Harry Potter and the Diggory Deception
by Nate Grey
Summary: Two baby boys were hunted down by dark wizards. The first, Harry, survived as the Boy Who Lived. The second, Neville, thought to be dead, was given a new identity and raised in secret. Rest in peace, Neville Longbottom. Long live Edward Diggory. Abandoned!
1. Chapter 1

**Warning from the Author:** There are three things you should be aware of before reading any further.

1) This is now, and will remain, incomplete. There's no chance of me finishing it, or continuing it at all. It's been collecting dust for ages, but I finally decided to post it just for archive purposes. I would be shocked but not opposed if anyone wanted to adopt any part of this mess.

2) This "story" (and I use that term very loosely) started as three separate ones: "The Potter Paradox", a friendship piece featuring Harry and Hermione in different houses (yes, the obvious ones); an unnamed Harry in Slytherin story; and "Curse of the Sphinx", a Neville in Hufflepuff story (which was also true of the first two ideas). Later I realized they each had common elements and attempted to combine them. Which no doubt was ultimately, partially responsible for my giving up on all three.

3) As I go through my old files, I find half-formed stories. Should I come across any HP ones that I feel like posting, I will add them here as new chapters. So I don't want anyone who chooses to follow to mistakenly think the initial story is being updated, it won't be.

* * *

 **Harry Potter and the Diggory Deception**

 **A Harry Potter Messfic by**

 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

* * *

 _From the Desk of Hermione Granger:_

 _Draco Malfoy and the Potter Paradox_

* * *

It didn't have to be that way. That was the real shame of it.

It took me years to recognize it. Partially because I didn't care to spend time watching Draco Malfoy, but mostly because my prolonged interest in any boy, even Harry, was sure to earn Ron's suspicion.

Draco only made it harder to pick out, probably on purpose. He was always sneering at us, after all. But somehow it was always more ugly, more venom-filled each time Harry gained a new friend.

True, while Draco had lashed out at Harry countless times, he took even greater pleasure in tormenting Harry's friends.

I thought he was just being cruel, at first. I'd heard the story of how Harry had met Draco far too many times by then, and Harry had fallen into the practice of making Draco seem like more of a bad apple even before they first exchanged words. But that was because he had actually experienced Draco's cruelty firsthand by then, and felt justified in giving the story a slant.

But I had begun to have my doubts. After all, very few people had known any real facts about Harry Potter the person before he came to Hogwarts. It would only have made sense for Draco to try and win famous Harry Potter over to his side, before anyone else could. And after several sharp prods from my finger, Harry had reluctantly admitted that that had been the very case: Draco had only officially become Harry's enemy when Harry had chosen Ron as his first friend, and turned his back on Draco. More importantly, Draco had actually extended his hand in friendship to Harry (or what passed for friendship for a Malfoy).

All I had to do was imagine how I would have felt in Draco's shoes. And it didn't take much effort: I remember very clearly how both Harry and Ron had first treated me, and the very memory of it still bothers me sometimes. That was partially because Harry, seeing the error of his ways, had later begged for my forgiveness, while Ron mostly said something along the lines of, "Well, we're friends now, what's the point in apologizing for being a git then?" A very small, petty part of me likes to point out that that was not even close to being a real apology, especially when compared to Harry's heartfelt one, but a larger part always reminds me that Ron is more or less always a git, it was just to what degree he was being one at any given moment that had to be considered.

Unfortunately, Draco was not anywhere near as forgiving as I was, and despite the shared life and death experiences, he had never established the bond that I had with Harry. But contrary to popular belief, it wasn't because Draco hadn't wanted such a bond. It was more because he had.

Draco had, at the very least, wanted Harry for a friend, initially. I can just imagine how having famous Harry Potter for a best mate would have increased Draco's swagger.

But Ron had (as he often managed to do) ruined things, first by rather innocently becoming Harry's friend, but then by rather blatantly passing on his tradition of bad feelings for Malfoys to Harry. They were always prepared to believe the worst about Draco, but I preferred to believe that Dumbledore wouldn't have allowed someone like that to set foot inside of Hogwarts. So if nothing else, Draco hadn't started out being a junior Death Eater, even if he was being raised by a senior one.

The reality was that Harry could not have been friends with both Draco and Ron: they were too different, and there had already been bad blood between their families long before Harry had learned he was a wizard. If Harry had chosen Draco, things would have changed rather drastically.

For one thing, Harry would have been sitting in Draco's compartment on the train that first year, and since I would not have bothered to enter one that contained people such as Crabbe and Goyle, I probably wouldn't have properly met Harry until the first day of classes. Assuming that Ron would have been alone, he most likely would have been twice as much of a git. Consequently, since Weasleys were commonly Gryffindors, I would of course have agreed with the Sorting Hat's idea of placing me in Ravenclaw just to keep away from him and the twins.

Without me to help him that first day, poor Neville could have ended up anywhere. But I firmly believe his loyalty would have landed him in Hufflepuff. He earned his nerve in Gryffindor, but I think a friend like Cedric Diggory could have been just the positive influence Neville needed to thrive.

Harry would go to Slytherin. Again, that in itself was not horrible, though depending on how Ron treated Harry afterwards, it could easily have been. Ron was not exactly the understanding type, and without me to make him see reason occasionally, he most likely would have hated Harry on principle alone, if not as a Slytherin, then certainly for being Draco's friend. Harry would merely respond in kind, and every Weasley would become his mortal enemy. And I shudder to think what that would have meant once Ginny joined us at school.

I couldn't see myself getting involved. I like to think that I would still be friends with Ginny, at least, and certainly Luna. Yes, we had our differences, but I think witnessing her being bullied firsthand would remind me how badly I had been treated in school. Surely I would have adopted her in much the same way I had Neville. At least, I hope I would have.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: The Brothers Diggory**

* * *

Amos Diggory paced back and forth in his kitchen, muttering nervously to himself. His wife Alexis, on the other hand, calmly sipped from a steamy mug of hot chocolate and silently willed him to sit with her at the table. A moment later, he did just that, running a hand through his hair several times. She wordlessly reached over and squeezed his hand, and he returned the gesture, wishing he had her patience.

Without warning, in a burst of flame, a singed piece of parchment appeared between them on the table.

Amos snatched it up at once, read it twice, and passed it to his wife. She read it as well, then dropped it.

The note was instantly consumed by flames before it could land on the table, and those faded just as quickly.

Amos stood up and hurried to the door, drew his wand with his right hand, and yanked the door open with his left. Two older men stood on his doorstep, both wearing black travel cloaks. "Password?" Amos demanded at once.

"Fire fight," the lead wizard replied calmly. "May we enter, Amos?"

"Sorry, Dumbledore," Amos apologized, stepping back to allow him in. "Can't be too careful."

"I could not agree more." Dumbledore stepped over the threshold into the kitchen, and was followed by his companion, who Amos had recognized at once.

"Good to see you out and about, Moody," Amos said, exchanging a firm handshake with the older man. "They told me you had retired. Just office rumors, then?"

"Not this time," Moody growled, "but retired don't mean inactive, Diggory, especially when it comes to me."

"My dear Alexis," Dumbledore said as Amos's wife rose to greet him. "I trust young Cedric is well?"

"Yes, Headmaster," Alexis assured him, allowing him to kiss her hand. "But tell me, is it true what Amos has told me? Frank and Alice, they can't be-"

"Not dead," Dumbledore interrupted. "But that is no real kindness, given their current state. I fear they will never leave St. Mungo's alive. With any luck, they can eventually be convinced that they still have one last earthly attachment." He gestured to Moody, who opened his cloak, revealing that he was clutching a sleeping baby boy in one arm. The most striking thing about the boy was his head full of white hair.

Amos was stunned, but Alexis immediately took the boy in her arms. She fussed over him for a moment, then lifted teary eyes to Dumbledore. "What have those monsters done to him?" she demanded.

"As near as can be determined, the boy may have seen his grandmother murdered," Dumbledore sighed. "As for his hair, we believe it to be the result of a rebounded spell, combined with a precisely aimed curse."

"Someone tried to curse a baby?" Amos asked in disbelief.

"For reasons which are best not discussed at the moment, Voldemort felt the need to destroy a certain child. His information was spotty at best, and so he could only guess at which child."

"Harry Potter," Alexis whispered, and Dumbledore nodded. "But then, if he was the one..."

"No one is exactly sure of all that happened, the night Voldemort confronted the Potters. This clearly includes his Death Eaters, some of whom are still searching desperately for any sign of him. We know now that one such group included the Lestranges, and that they were the ones responsible for this latest tragedy. Although I have yet to receive confirmation, it appears that they have wiped out the rest of the Longbottom family. Without question, they were the ones who tortured Frank and Alice into insanity. Unfortunately, when this did not yield the answers they wanted, they proceeded to Augusta Longbottom's home, and it was there that their plans began to unravel."

"You're suggesting that the boy stopped them somehow?" Amos asked hesitantly.

"No. Not without considerable help, that is. The boy was in his grandmother's care, and she was easily one of the more powerful witches I had the pleasure to be acquainted with. There is no doubt in my mind that under normal circumstances, she could have easily defeated any four Death Eaters. But she had her grandson to consider, and consider him she did. This was both her final kindness, as well as her downfall. Augusta devoted the bulk of her magical power into a spell that would protect the boy, and faced the Death Eaters with what she had left. She did not survive."

"Tough old bird," Moody added approvingly. "Went down fighting."

Dumbledore nodded. "And in doing so, she empowered the spell on her grandson. Her sacrifice ensured his survival. Bellatrix Lestrange is now in custody, and it won't be long before her wand is tested. I do not need to see the results. Knowing her, there could only be two curses she would ever bother to cast against a helpless child, and I suspect she used them both. Augusta's spell allowed the boy to endure the first, and I suspect helped him rebound the second. Certainly children using wandless magic is not unheard of, even so young. But to manage what he did, there can be no doubt that his grandmother's magic aided him."

"Then it's Harry Potter all over again?" Alexis murmured, carefully running her fingers through the baby's white hair.

"Not quite. Bellatrix is harmed, to be certain, but not powerless. Humiliated, and angrier than ever because of it, I would wager. And I must admit that Augusta seemed rather more prepared for her own end than the Potters did. Her means of protection is certainly far more adaptable. She has essentially created a living will with two aspects: an inheritance of her magical power, and enabling a very extensive protection charm. I believe that even an adoptive family would benefit from it, as with most of her relatives already dead, Augusta knew better than to restrict herself to magic dependent on blood relations."

"Which is where we come in," Amos said. "What do we need to do?"

"A simple oath of allegiance should be enough. The genuine, heartfelt intent is what will matter most." Dumbledore drew his wand and gently tapped the boy's head. At once, what looked like a thick, golden thread sprouted among the baby's hair and grew until it rose just over all of their heads. "Amos and Alexis Diggory, do you swear to accept this child into your home, to love him as your second son, to protect him from all harm, and to raise him up as a wizard worthy of his family's name?"

"We do," the Diggorys swore.

At once, the golden thread split into three smaller threads. Two of the threads bent down, each connecting to either Amos or Alexis's forehead, while the third thread zoomed off deeper into the house, obviously in search of Cedric. After a moment, the threads pulsed briefly with power, then vanished.

"Success," Dumbledore announced, putting his wand away. "We leave the boy in your capable hands. I will need to know when you've decided upon a name. Just so there is no confusion when it comes time to enroll him at Hogwarts."

"Already have one in mind, Dumbledore," Amos answered with a somewhat bashful grin. "See, Alexis and I were thinking of having another child. Little Ced's been asking for a brother for months, and we already agreed on names."

"Edward August Diggory," Alexis whispered, stroking the baby's cheek with a finger. "That's what we'll call him."

"A fine name I'm sure that Augusta would approve of. But now I am afraid we come to the portion of the visit that I care for the least." Dumbledore's blue eyes narrowed. "No one must know his true identity for the time being. To be blunt, Alastor did not obtain the child through legal means, and so far as the world will know, Neville Longbottom did not survive this night. We certainly want any Death Eaters to think that."

"No one shall know who he is, Headmaster," Alexis agreed without hesitation.

"Excellent. Then there is one more matter I need to discuss with you, Alexis. It concerns your former occupation."

The color drained out of Amos's face. "I'll just put Edward to bed, then," he muttered, quickly taking his new son from his wife and kissing her cheek before rushing upstairs.

Alexis sighed deeply, then glanced warily at Moody.

"No need for that look," Moody said calmly. "Always a pleasure to be in the presence of an Unspeakable, former or otherwise."

Alexis grimaced and turned back to Dumbledore. "I detected a memory charm on the baby. Was it you that placed it, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, and neither did Alastor. I believe he, instinctively or otherwise, put it on himself. Possibly to protect his mind from the damage a memory of this night would surely cause him at such a young age."

She frowned. "If he's using such powerful and precise magic already-"

"Then I cannot think of a better adoptive mother for him to have, than the best Obliviator I have ever known."

"You know very well that you've never seen me Obliviate anyone," she said curtly.

"Or at least I don't recall having seen it. And surely, that is the clearest sign of a master Obliviator. I realize there are certain rules and restrictions involved in your occupation, Alexis, but I feel this matter must take precedence. I dare not ask you to make exceptions for your own child, but I am sure you will quickly find that it is best to handle such incidents personally. I would trust no one else to do so, if it were my son. We simply cannot have anyone begin to question how it is that Edward is so powerful. Not only would it be dangerous for him, but for you as well."

"You don't have to tell me that. I would never put my job before my children. And it's not like the Ministry can ever fire me. I know where all the bodies are buried, or I can certainly make everyone forget that I don't."

"Then you understand what I'm saying?" Dumbledore asked.

Alexis smirked. "You mean do I understand what you're asking without really asking it, Headmaster? Of course. We Ravenclaws learn to read between the lines in first year, if not sooner. And you're not exactly being subtle, for once. Rest assured that being my child comes with my full protection, no questions asked."

"You have always been one of my brightest students, Alexis. That is something I come to appreciate more each time I visit. I do hope you might one day reconsider the position I offered you. You would make an excellent professor, I have always said so."

She shook her head. "You flatter me, Headmaster. But I am more certain than ever that my heart only has room for Amos and our children. That helps me remain who I am, and do what I need to do. I hope you can respect that."

Dumbledore nodded, and without another word, he and Moody promptly left.

When Alexis went upstairs a few minutes later, she found Amos in Cedric's room, alternating between watching Cedric sleep even as he did the same with Edward, who was still asleep in his arms.

"Cedric will be pleased, I'm sure," Alexis said.

Amos nodded. "I'll take the rest of the week off. The month, maybe. I want to make this work for the boys."

"Then it will," Alexis promised.

He eyed her cautiously. "Am I going to need to forget these past few minutes?"

"I can't imagine why you would. We didn't actually discuss anything I would have minded you hearing. And as people seem to keep forgetting, I'm a Diggory first and a Ministry employee second. My loyalty is to you. Anyway, if I was going to make you forget something, I'd tell you first. I owe you that much courtesy, I think."

Amos shook his head, smiling grimly. "I don't remember you being quite so comfortable with all this when we first got married."

"Darling, when we first got married, I wasn't a mother, the Potters and Longbottoms were all alive, and Harry Potter couldn't have been anything more than a half-formed idea in his parents' heads. Things change, with or without an Obliviator on the scene."

* * *

It was a sight that Alexis Diggory had seen several times, and yet it always managed to warm her heart. Edward was seated on a bench outside his teacher's classroom, his head weighed down with guilt and worry. At his side, Cedric sat with his arm around his little brother, looking both comforting and defiant at the same time.

Alexis cleared her throat as she approached them. "Well?" she demanded in a no-nonsense tone. "Who wants to tell me why I was called away from work to come to your school?" Her eyes automatically went to Cedric, who gulped and stood up.

"It was my fault, Mum," he murmured. "These kids were picking on Ed again, so I-"

"They hit him?" she interrupted, her nostrils flaring ominously.

"No," Cedric admitted, wincing. "Called him names. The usual. 'Old Man Diggory', stuff like that."

"And then?" Alexis prompted.

Edward jumped up. "It was so cool, Mum! There were four of them, and Ced came out of nowhere and took them all down!"

Alexis shot him a withering look which instantly cooled his excitement. "How many times must I say it, boys? You don't attack, you only defend. It is only acceptable to strike someone if they've struck you first. Those children were wrong, but so was Cedric for reacting that way. You should have told a teacher, or just walked away."

"But now they know what I'll do if they try it again!" Cedric insisted fiercely.

"And you know what I'll do, since this isn't the first time you've made this mistake, Cedric. No dessert tonight, young man."

"Yes, Mum," Cedric sighed, lowering his head. He jerked slightly, however, when she pressed a cool bottle of butterbeer against his cheek. He slowly accepted the bottle, staring up at his mother in confusion.

"Share with your brother," she instructed, giving him a small, approving smile before stepping into the teacher's office.

Ms. Jasper was a familiar face to Alexis, but the teacher only smiled politely as if they barely knew each other. "Hello, Mrs. Diggory," she greeted. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I hope my call didn't alarm you, it was really just a minor incident."

"That's what my boys said, but I'd rather hear your version, Ms. Jasper."

"Some of the children have somewhat strong reactions to Edward's hair color," the teacher admitted. "Most either keep their distance, or know enough not to say what they think out aloud. But a small group have devoted themselves to teasing him. I have no doubt that Cedric was only looking out for Edward. Cedric has always been polite and kind, and he often volunteers to help me in class. I have never had any trouble from him, and as far as I'm concerned, that's still true. But I'm sure I don't have to tell you that fighting, for any reason, is unacceptable. Especially since Cedric somehow passed out a broken nose and three black eyes despite being outnumbered."

Alexis nodded stiffly. "Both of my boys know how I feel about fighting. Edward has always been smaller than average, so he was the first to take the lesson to heart. Cedric has a good heart, but he is fiercely protective of Edward, sometimes to a fault. I wish I could promise you that this will be an isolated incident. But so long as someone goes out of their way to tease Edward, there will be consequences."

"I thought you might say something like that." Ms. Jasper pulled a small folder out of her desk. "I am still required to make a note of this in Cedric's file. I don't want to, but if it becomes obvious that this is a pattern, perhaps I can arrange something more permanent." Before she could put pen to paper, however, a blank look settled over her face.

Alexis turned the file around so she could read it, keeping one finger trained on Ms. Jasper. When she saw nothing that would cause problems, she pushed the file back to the teacher, and lowered her finger.

Ms. Jasper blinked slowly, clearly dazed. "Oh... Mrs. Diggory? Was I saying something?"

"Yes. I trust the school will do something to prevent those boys from attacking my Cedric again. As far as I'm concerned, if it took four of them to do it, and he still came away without a scratch, they need to find an alternate source of entertainment. They're obviously not too good at bullying."

"Ah... yes," Ms. Jasper murmured softly as Alexis briskly walked out of the office and motioned for her sons to follow.

"Does Dad have to hear about this?" Cedric asked hesitantly, passing the remaining half of the butterbeer to Edward. "Only he said next time I got into a fight, I had better win, and Ms. Jasper broke it up before I could knock them all out."

Alexis pursed her lips, clearly annoyed. "Maybe your father needs to miss dessert tonight, too."

* * *

 **Next Chapter: When Harry Met Alejandro**

The boa constrictor at the zoo passes on Brazil and decides to go home with Harry instead. The Dursleys are not amused. Harry is, greatly so.


	2. Chapter 2

**Harry Potter and the Diggory Deception**  
 **A Harry Potter Messfic by**  
 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 2: When Harry Met Alejandro**

* * *

It was all very strange. He'd turned down a chance to go to Brazil. But he did not regret it.

The boa constricter had dreamed of going to Brazil one day, and would have given nearly anything to do so. All because it seemed like a place he belonged to and was meant to be in. Or at least a place where his family had come from. And he'd never had a chance to go home before.

Then, he'd looked up one day and seen the Boy.

The boa constrictor never had a problem identifying the few humans who understood the language of snakes. No matter how they appeared, those humans always had a certain taste in the air about them, something any and every snake recognized at once, whether they cared to acknowledge it or not. The boa constrictor did, because he had only met two other such humans in his lifetime, and he had learned a great deal from both encounters. Those humans had both been adult males.

The Boy was different, obviously. Because in addition to being younger, the boa constrictor could see at once that he also knew the pain of being alone in the world, of questioning whether never being born at all might have been preferable to their current existence as prisoners. They were the same, and somehow, that made all the difference in the world.

When the boa constrictor saw how miserably the Boy was treated by his companions, he knew his choice had been the right one. The moment the glass imprisoning him vanished, he surged forward toward freedom. But instead of escaping and pursuing his dream of finally going home, the boa constrictor wound his long, powerful body around the Boy in a rippling embrace. The Boy was clearly startled, so the boa constrictor told him something that he knew would be reassuring.

"You are my Brazil now, amigo."

The Boy smiled at him and replied, "It's Harry, actually. But I bet Brazil is loads better than Privet Drive."

* * *

Harry could not stop grinning, despite how much trouble he was supposedly in. Even better, nobody actually seemed capable of punishing him, now that he was lugging around a fairly irritable boa constrictor. The snake was surprisingly heavy and awkward to carry, but after a few minutes, Harry barely even noticed or cared about the weight: he finally had a friend that could not be taken away from him.

The snake angrily resisted any attempts to remove it from Harry. The Dursleys seemed greatly disappointed when they realized this was not because the snake intended Harry to be its next meal.

The zoo director explained to the Dursleys that there was no real way to separate the snake from Harry: its current behavior was unlike anything he'd seen before, and he had no idea how further attempts would cause it to react. He was greatly concerned that the snake might harm Harry if provoked, although he could not seem to grasp why this did not appear to bother the Dursleys. He finally suggested the wildly unpopular idea of letting Harry keep the snake: it was rather attached to him, and it wasn't as if the zoo could keep Harry instead. To pacify the Dursleys somewhat, the zoo director offered them free season passes to the zoo. For Harry, he agreed to provide a large tank for the snake, a book on taking proper care of a boa constrictor, and regular visits from the reptile house keeper to ensure the snake remained in good health. He even offered to send Harry and the snake home in one of the zoo's trucks, so that the Dursleys did not have to ride home with the snake in the car.

Even then, Uncle Vernon refused. So Harry had reminded him of something very important. "You've been horrible to me my entire life. I've basically been good, or at least I haven't been trying to be bad. If you don't agree to this, I'll start trying. Dudley has already ruined any chance of me having a human friend at school, and I'm not about to let you take away the first real friend I've ever had."

Harry suspected it was the visual reminder that he hadn't been trying to misbehave when the snake attached itself to him that finally made Uncle Vernon cave in. It was made very clear that Harry was solely responsible for the snake, and that he would receive no help in its upkeep. This was fine was Harry, because he figured any help from his relatives would drastically shorten the snake's lifespan.

The reptile house keeper drove Harry and the snake home, and helped him carry the tank inside. There was absolutely no way to set the tank up in the tiny cupboard under the stairs where Harry had been living, so Uncle Vernon reluctantly gave Harry permission to move into Dudley's spare bedroom. Uncle Vernon didn't like this at all, but he was determined to keep any visitors from spotting a live snake in the house, and it wasn't as if he ever intended to show anyone a room where Harry was sleeping.

Although Harry had known exactly how spoiled Dudley was, and how unfairly the Dursleys treated Harry himself, moving into a bedroom full of Dudley's broken and discarded belongings was a rather painful reminder. What was worse, people outside of the family rarely witnessed such mistreatment, as Harry barely went anywhere other than school. But Harry was now keenly aware that the reptile house keeper was seeing firsthand the conditions he lived in, and felt downright embarrassed to be himself.

But the reptile house keeper, whose name-tag identified him as Doug Liss, said nothing until they had pushed aside a pile of broken toys and set up the tank on a desk that still had three sturdy legs, with the other propped up on a dictionary.

"Dead useful, snakes are," Doug noted. "Lots of people are scared witless of 'em. Bigger the snake, bigger the scare. And of course, smaller the peabrain, smaller the wits. Just something to keep in mind."

"I'll do that, Mr. Liss," Harry promised with a smile.

"You take good care of our mutual friend here," Doug said, gesturing to the snake, "and you can call me Doug." He handed over a business card, so that Harry could call if he had any questions that the book didn't answer. This assumed, of course, that Harry would be allowed to use the telephone, which had never happened before. But then, Harry suspected a lot of things would be easier to manage around the house, now that he had a boa constrictor.

Curiously, among the discarded things in the bedroom that Dudley had lost interest in (or never had any interest in at all) was a long forgotten book on Brazil. Harry could not ever recall having seen Dudley read a book, so the dust-covered state in which Harry found it was not really surprising. In the book was a short list of popular names in Brazil, and feeling this was a sign, Harry went through them until he found one that he liked.

"What if I call you Alejandro?" he asked the boa constrictor. "Al for short?"

"Sounds good," the snake replied. "By the way, I'll probably be hungry in about a week."

* * *

For some time, Harry was under the somewhat mistaken impression that Al was simply an oddly intelligent snake. He could not exactly be blamed for this, because having Al for a friend had certainly changed his own life for the better. While it was not strictly necessary, Harry spent a great deal of time handling Al, as his coils at least simulated an embrace, and had the added benefit of keeping the Dursleys at a far more preferable distance. Additionally, Harry was no longer expected to even see Aunt Marge when she visited, and spent a great deal more time confined to his room with only Al for company. This did not bother either of them, as neither was a fan of the Dursleys to begin with, and it drastically shortened the list of chores Harry could be forced to perform.

Of course, Harry thought it was odd that he and Al could communicate so easily, but he assumed that Al had somehow learned English, being raised around people for so long. More than once the Dursleys demanded that Harry stop hissing to the snake, but he also assumed that they were just exaggerating, rather than being perfectly serious. In any case, Harry spent most of his time talking to Al, who seemed to enjoy intelligent conversation almost as much as he enjoyed peaceful silence.

Harry also tried to follow the guidelines in his book on snakes exactly at first, but Al advised him to treat them more as suggestions than anything else. For example, he spent very little time in his tank, and preferred to be draped around Harry, or merely allowed to explore the crowded bedroom on his own.

Food was another concern that was quickly brushed aside: despite almost never being allowed outside, Al somehow managed to obtain meals from an unknown source. Each time Harry asked, Al would happily say what his last meal had been, usually mice or birds. He never explained how he got them, however, and Harry initially figured that so long as Al was happy and healthy, nothing else mattered.

But after some time, Harry could not ignore his own concerns. Al was his only friend, and he would hate to endanger the snake by not taking proper care of him. If nothing else, Harry was sure that he had personally not fed Al since bringing him home from the zoo, even though Al was clearly eating. So Harry finally decided to ask Al flat out how he was getting outside. The answer was not one he'd been expecting.

"Magic," Al told him, both sounding and looking quite sincere.

Harry stared at the snake curled up on his bed, certain that he'd misheard. "What?"

"Magic," Al repeated patiently. "That's how I go outside."

"You're joking."

"Of course not. There's very little I find funny about living here."

On that much, Harry had to agree. "So, when you say magic-"

"Your magic," Al corrected. "Sorry, thought it would be obvious."

Harry stared at him. "I'm sorry? What do you mean, my magic?"

"Well, you're a wizard," Al replied, as if it should have been obvious.

"There's no such thing," Harry answered at once. "Not really."

Al laughed, or at least hissed in a way that Harry was quite sure was laughing for a snake. "Fine, then. Look at it this way. You're either a wizard with untapped potential and a world of options open to him, or a normal human that's going to spend the rest of his life living here. With them."

"I'm a wizard," Harry said two seconds later.

"Right," Al said approvingly, "now let's talk magic."

* * *

A man stood outside of number four, Privet Drive. His name was Severus Snape, and he was unhappy. This was nothing new, as Snape had not been truly happy in years. Currently, he was distinctly unhappy for several reasons.

He had hoped he would never have the enormous displeasure of laying eyes on Petunia Evans, now Dursley, again. She was, quite simply, a miserable woman, having been a particularly miserable girl as well.

Snape was also unhappy about the duties that had been thrust upon him. It was one of those duties that had brought him to Privet Drive. He was to introduce himself to a prospective student. As a teacher himself, this should not have been too unusual. Except that it was, because the student in question was Petunia's nephew, Harry Potter, and if not for an unfortunate twist of fate, the boy could have easily been born Severus Snape, Jr.

He had agreed to the duty only because Harry was the son of the woman Snape had loved, dearly and desperately. Snape would never forget Lily Evans, and though she had ultimately found love with another man, she would always be dear to him. The same could not be said for Harry, who, according to all reports, greatly resembled his father, James Potter. Snape had hated James for a number of reasons, but James was dead, and so was Lily. Harry was alive and needed to be dealt with, and Snape was to do the dealing.

Snape knocked on the door three times, and waited. After a moment, the door slowly opened. There was no person on the other side of it.

As Snape attempted to make sense of this curious development, he noticed a flash of movement near the floor, and froze as what could only be the tip of a very large snake's tail waved lazily at him.

"You can come in, he won't bite," called a young, male voice from within the house.

Snape swept into the house and shut the door. He could now see that it was indeed a very large snake that had answered the door somehow. It was brown with a black diamond pattern along its body, and moved with an ease that suggested it was quite accustomed to having the run of the house. Snape could not imagine that Petunia would allow such a creature in her home, unless she had changed dramatically over the years, which he doubted. The only reasonanble explanation was that the Dursleys had gone out for the night.

Snape followed the snake into the kitchen, where a young boy sat at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. He appeared entirely unconcerned with the stranger before him, and for no reason that Snape could explain, he found the boy's ease unacceptable. The boy was obviously Harry Potter, as he looked like his father in miniature, save for one striking exception: he had his mother's eyes. Snape focused on them as best he could, as it would make this meeting... well, better for Harry, anyway.

"Do you always have your snake answer the door?" Snape asked curtly.

"No, but I figure anyone coming to visit the Dursleys is going to hate me almost as much as they do," Harry replied. "So I don't really care if they don't like being greeted by a snake."

Snape frowned at him. "As it happens, I am here to see you, not them."

Harry eyed him with obvious doubt, but said nothing.

"I take it you received a Hogwarts letter?"

Harry's eyes widened. "Oh, you're here about that! I thought it was a joke, I'd never gotten any mail before. It even had my bedroom on it."

Snape cleared his throat. "It is most certainly not a joke. You are a wizard, and you require proper training, unless you wish to be a danger to yourself and those around you." To his amazement, Harry looked as if he were visualizing what that might be like. But then, considering that included Petunia and her family, Snape could hardly blame the boy.

"So do you work at the school?" Harry asked.

Snape nodded. "I am the Potions Master, among other things."

"Is there a class on animals?"

"That would be Care of Magical Creatures."

Harry hesitated, then glanced at his snake, which had slowly curled itself around him during the conversation. "Would I be able to bring my snake to school with me?"

"Snakes are not on the list of approved pets," Snape replied at once. This was largely an automatic reply.

"I saw that," Harry admitted. "But leaving Al here isn't an option. I wouldn't trust the Dursleys to take decent care of anything I value. So unless I can bring my snake, I'm not going anywhere."

Snape stared at Harry, unprepared for an ultimatum. He had not predicted this, and surely the Headmaster had not, either. "I see. I will speak to the Headmaster, to see if an exception can be made. Either way, you should receive notification shortly." He paused, and then added in a half-hearted attempt to be polite, "Al is the snake's proper name?"

"Alejandro. I named him that because it's popular in Brazil."

Snape arched an eyebrow in silent question.

"He wanted to go to Brazil, but changed his mind when he met me," Harry explained.

"You know this how?"

"He told me."

Snape blinked slowly. "Surely, you mean the snake... indicated that he wanted to go to Brazil?"

"Yes. But later on he told me. It's supposed to be really nice there." Harry paused as the snaked hissed at him. "He says it is nice there. He's seen nature documentaries on it."

"You... just talked to the snake," Snape said slowly, his eyes wide.

"No, he talked to me," Harry corrected him.

"But you understood him," Snape insisted. "And can talk back to him?"

"Sure. But I'm a wizard. We can do that, right?"

"Very few of us," Snape murmured. "The Headmaster will need to be informed. And this may actually improve the likelihood of your request being approved."

"Why is that?" Harry asked.

"Because the last thing anyone wants is a young, untrained Parselmouth that grew up in this house not learning how best to use his talents." Snape did not explain further, but somehow the thought of Petunia Dursley potentially having raised the next Dark Lord did not surprise him one bit.

* * *

Less than an hour later, Snape returned, but he was not alone. Instead, he was in the company of four other adults, all of whom seemed to be quite old in Harry's opinion. There was a thin, stern-faced woman; a tiny, friendly man who was even shorter than Harry; a plump woman who wore dusty green gloves and kept tutting at the state of Aunt Petunia's houseplants; and finally, a tall, thin man with a very prominent silver beard and twinkling blue eyes. There was no question that the last was the Headmaster, as he had a commanding air about him that made Harry sit up straight at once.

Snape cleared his throat. "May I present Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and our Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore?"

Harry looked at each of them in mild alarm, and finally asked, "All this because I wanted to bring my snake to school?"

Dumbledore chuckled kindly. "No, Harry. But the issue is no longer as simple as you may think. While I am perfectly happy to allow Al into the school, precautions must be taken. As I am sure you have guessed, we must consider the safety of the other students' animals as well. I myself have a rather splendid pet that I would prefer not to see eaten. But rather than inconvenience all the other animals, I am afraid I will have to inconvenience you just a little. I have no choice but to pre-Sort you."

Harry blinked and stared at him. "Sorry, what?"

McGonagall stepped forward and began to speak. "Upon first arriving at Hogwarts, each student is Sorted into one of four houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, or Slytherin. Accomplishments earn house points, misbehaving loses house points. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the coveted House Cup. As we are the collective Heads of House, we must all witness you being Sorted, Potter. One of us, after all, will be responsible for you over the next seven years." With that, she produced a very old, slightly dirty witch's hat.

Harry thought perhaps maybe she had gotten it mixed up with the actual hat that was needed, and had just opened his mouth to say so when the hat suddenly opened its own mouth, and began to sing.

"Harry Potter, bright and true,  
I know just what to do with you!  
Pop me on your head, my boy,  
For I am not a joke or toy!

I'll show you where you ought to be,  
And send you there, just wait and see!  
I'm a Hogwarts Sorting Hat.  
My rhyme is true, my words exact!

You might be one for Gryffindor,  
Where courage dwells forevermore.  
Or Hufflepuff could be your home

If you stay true and never roam.

You'll rest your head in Ravenclaw

If your big brain inspires awe.  
But Slytherin is where you'll find

The ever so ingenious mind.

So, quick, my boy, sit up straight

And let this hat reveal your fate!  
I swear to find where you belong

Just put me on after my song!"

At once, the hat fell silent, and looked perfectly old and ordinary again. McGonagall handed it to Harry. "Place this on your head, please. It will do the rest."

Hesitantly, Harry put the hat on his head. It instantly fell down over his eyes, and he could see nothing but the dark inside of the hat. After a few seconds, he heard a voice that he instantly recognized as the hat's.

"Mmm, what have we here? A good, sharp mind, yes. Tons of courage, lots of potential. Difficult, you are, dear boy. Now, where to put you, I wonder?"

Harry thought carefully before answering. "I just want a place where I'll be accepted. I just want to belong somewhere for once."

"A place to belong, eh? That could be anywhere. You could be great in Gryffindor, you know. But if what you really want is somewhere just for someone like you, then it had better be SLYTHERIN!" The hat positively shouted the last word, and Harry jerked it off of his head with a wince, his ears still ringing. The hat landed in Dumbledore's waiting hands, and he quickly passed it to McGonagall so he could applaud.

He was the only one who did so. The rest of the teachers were gaping at Harry in stunned silence. Harry feared he might have disrespected the hat, but then realized that what had really shocked them was the house he'd been placed in. It hadn't sounded so bad to him, although he wasn't crazy about the name. But it did sound like somewhere that a snake would be welcome.

"Congratulations, Harry!" Dumblendore said, beaming at him. "You are the first new student this year to call Slytherin home. You see, the pre-Sorting was necessary because each house has an assigned dormitory. I must therefore designate an area where your snake is free to roam, but I could not do that until knew exactly where you would be spending the bulk of your time at school. Now that I know, I will begin preparing the Slytherin common room at once."

"Thank you, Headmaster, but... is there something wrong with Slytherin?" Harry wondered.

"No," Dumbledore replied firmly. "But I fear Slytherin has gained a certain reputation. You see, there have been some very notable Dark wizards in recent years, and several of them once called Slytherin home. But I do not want you to worry, Harry: the house does not make the wizards. Rather, the wizards make the house. If you truly want Slytherin to be a home, I assure you it will be."

"Okay," Harry said softly, not entirely reassured. "So which of you is my Head of House?"

"That would be Professor Snape," Dumbledore said.

Harry looked at Snape without a bit of surprise. He'd suspected as much. "Professor, do you think the other Slytherins will have a problem with me bringing a snake?"

Snape smirked. "They should rather enjoy it, Potter. The Slytherin mascot is a snake."

"Is that why I was Sorted there?"

"I cannot ignore that it may have been a contributing factor," Snape admitted. "But I must admit that I was still rather surprised. Slytherin is the last house I would have expected you to end up in."

"Really? Why?"

Snape glanced at Dumbledore, who nodded for him to continue. "Your parents were both Gryffindors, and strictly speaking, your greatest enemy to date is a rather infamous Slytherin."

"You knew my parents?" Harry asked at once.

"Yes. You will find there are many people who knew and loved Lily Evans and James Potter. Which is why their murders at the hands of the aforementioned Slytherin made him all the more infamous."

With obvious reluctance, Snape proceeded to explain to Harry how Voldemort had killed the Potters, and how Voldemort had then tried and failed to do the same to Harry.

While Harry was glad to finally know the truth, he wondered if he hadn't preferred Aunt Petunia's lie about his parents dying in a car crash. But then, he decided it was best he knew the truth, especially if Voldemort or his followers might still be active. Training to become a proper wizard suddenly took on a new importance: Harry had no intention of being killed when he'd only lived long enough to say he'd been a very unwelcome houseguest. Equally important, since Harry was going to be in the same house that Voldemort had been in, maybe there would be some clues as to how Voldemort had grown so powerful, and how Harry could do the same, although without all the evil and murder. If nothing else, he intended to find out everything he could about Voldemort, in hopes of finding a weakness to exploit. Even if avenging his parents was not possible, his staying alive would no doubt be nearly as good a way to honor them.

"I know this is a great deal to take in at once, Harry," Dumbledore said softly.

"What were they like? My parents, I mean," Harry murmured, looking at Snape.

He swallowed hard. "Your mother was a witch blessed with kindness, beauty, and brilliance, but she had astoundingly bad luck." Then his face and voice turned hard and cold. "Your father was her opposite in nearly every way imaginable."

Although that earned some disapproving looks from the other teachers, Harry managed a half-hearted smile, realizing for the first time that he was not the only one who had suffered a loss the night his parents died. "Thank you, Professor."

Snape jerked back as if struck, various emotions playing across his face in the space of a few seconds. Then he turned and swiftly walked out of the room. At a nod from Dumbledore, McGonagall followed Snape, apparently to ensure that he would not get too far or do something rash.

"As you can clearly see, Harry, your parents were a truly beloved pair, and their sacrifice will not be soon forgotten," Dumbledore sighed. "I personally feel it would be a great disservice to their memory if I failed to give you a quality Hogwarts education. I hope you will allow me to do so?"

"I think they would have wanted that, sir," Harry said softly. "But, what's a Parselmouth? Professor Snape called me that before."

Dumbledore frowned. "A Parselmouth is a wizard who can understand and speak to snakes. It is a most uncommon ability, and one that Voldemort is especially known for."

"Oh." Harry looked at Al uncertainly, and the snake hissed at him. Harry grinned.

"Your friend has an opinion on the matter?" Dumbledore asked.

"He's not worried about us anymore," Harry explained. "He figures if we've been living with the Dursleys this long and haven't turned evil, it's never going to happen."

* * *

 **Next Chapter: The Riddleless Sphinx**

Amos Diggory brings a bit of his work home with him. Edward meets his future sister-in-law. Harry meets his future classmates.


	3. Chapter 3

**Harry Potter and the Diggory Deception**  
 **A Harry Potter Messfic by**  
 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 3: The Riddleless Sphinx**

* * *

Amos Diggory stepped out of the elevator, turned right into a dimly lit corridor, and headed for his office. For years, he had worked at various jobs within the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and still found the work both challenging and interesting. While it was true that he rarely knew what sort of issues would await him when he walked into the office, it was equally true that he got to travel as much as he wished, handled a wide range of magical creatures from day to day, and always had fascinating stories to share.

He had only taken a few steps past a glowing sign in the hallway that read "Now entering the Beast Division. Outside Ministry personnel must want for authorized escorts." when a feline shape sprang out of the darkness, landing neatly at his feet. If he had not been expecting it, Amos felt sure the sight would have given him a heart attack.

"Greetings, Master Diggory," said the sphinx, sinking to the ground and bowing her head to him.

"Evening, Cuddles," Amos replied, stooping slightly to run his hand briefly along her furry back. "No riddle today?"

"No, Master. I still do not like them." Cuddles sprang lightly back to her feet and padded along beside him as he moved into the cubicle area.

The story of Cuddles was a rather odd one. Shortly after birth, she had tripped and hit her head against a stone tablet. The injury left her in a coma for a week, after which she had woken up and made a full recovery, with one exception: she was possibly the only sphinx in existence who refused to tell riddles. Instead, she made it a point to tell the straightforward truth as often as possible. Naturally, this put her at odds with other sphinxes, who viewed her as an unwelcome outcast and reacted to her with a level of violence they normally saved for thieves. The Scamander family came across her during an expedition, and had shipped Cuddles to the Ministry for her own safety.

They were still searching for a more permanent home for her, but in the meantime, Amos had found that Cuddles was perfectly capable of guarding the office. Despite her small size (for a sphinx, anyway), she was surprisingly strong, and had been taught to identify those who were allowed in the office, and those who were not. There had been a few incidents where a Ministry worker had not had their security clearance on hand, but it certainly didn't happen anymore. Cuddles was perfectly friendly and quite approachable most of the time, but she had nearly torn out Mundungus Fletcher's throat once and had not apologized. To this day, she insisted that he had been intruding after hours and lacked proper clearance. Knowing "Dung" the way he did, Amos did not doubt Cuddles on this matter at all.

Fortunately, as Amos and several others within his office were more than qualified to handle even a full-sized, mature sphinx, Cuddles had been allowed to stay with them rather longer than she normally might have. There were just only so many options for any sphinx outside of Egypt. Nearly all went to work at Gringotts, but there their riddle-telling was essential. Private homes were few and far between, as the wizards who could handle a sphinx either almost never wanted to keep them, or tended to get in trouble for owning whatever treasure they felt required a sphinx's protection in the first place.

Amos personally felt that Cuddles could easily be adopted by a family, so long as she was expected to protect them. The trouble with sphinxes was that they were natural guardians, and so without something to protect, they tended to get antsy, which generally lead to them having to be killed. They were unfortunately only good at guarding, riddles, and violence. But guarding was always their first preference, and without that, riddles tended to lose their appeal rather fast, which just left the one thing they excelled at.

Any thoughts of the situation with Cuddles left Amos's mind, the moment he found a note on his desk, which informed him that his wife needed him home as soon as possible. Alexis only ever demanded that in the case of family emergencies, which almost always involved their youngest son Edward. A glance at the clock on his desk told Amos that it was fairly late already; that mess with the banshee in the greenhouse had taken longer to iron out than he'd realized. By unfortunate coincidence, Alexis had not been the Obliviator assigned to assist in the clean-up, otherwise they possibly could have gone straight home from there.

"If anyone asks, I'm done for the day, Cuddles," Amos announced.

"I shall await your return, Master," Cuddles replied with another bow.

Amos paused and stared at her thoughtfully, a curious proposal popping into his head. "Actually, cancel that. You come, too."

Cuddles raised her head slowly, cautiously optimistic. She was not often permitted to leave the office, for the simple reason that it could be tricky to convince her to do so. Sphinxes generally needed a very precise definition of what and how they were to protect, and while Cuddles was far more flexible than most, she still often needed clarification. For example, Amos had instructed her to protect the office, but it had taken almost a week to convince her that the actual office workers were included in that. Cuddles had insisted that this was impossible, as she could obviously not protect the workers who were away from the office, if she was still there. So Amos had narrowed "office" down to the actual area that the office occupied, and any personnel with clearance to be there, but only while they were there.

A further complication was that a sphinx tended to recognize only one person or group as an ultimate authority figure at a time. Currently, Amos was it for Cuddles, as the Scamander family (as her former masters) had designated him so. Therefore, her only real priority was his personal protection, and while she made every attempt to follow his orders, she would immediately question him when they contradicted a previous order he'd given her.

"I would be honored to meet your wife, Master," Cuddles said, "but will she not be alarmed by my appearance?"

"Alexis doesn't frighten easily. If anything, you might be more afraid of her by the time this is over."

* * *

Amos was late getting home that evening. This was a rather common occurrence, as some magical creatures were often unpredictable, and it was hard to plan a tight schedule around them. Amos was one of the best handlers alive, and even he knew better than to promise he'd be anywhere at a certain time. Instead, he could really only offer a window of a few hours when he was likely to be available. Alexis understood, having missed more than a few appointments herself, as her own professions had traditionally been of the abrupt, always on call nature as well. All they could really do was keep their fingers crossed, and always ensure that someone was able to watch the boys on short notice.

Alexis noticed right away that Amos had not come home alone. He was accompanied by a black-haired little girl with copper-colored skin and almond-shaped emerald eyes that sparkled when the light caught them. Alexis knew at once that there was something magical about the girl, although she very much doubted it was simply that the girl was a witch. Even that much was plainly obvious from the pale violet, Ministry-issue robes that she wore.

"Sorry I'm late, Lexi," Amos apologized, hurriedly kissing her cheek with a grin. "Got held up at the office, and this was sort of last minute. I guess you're wondering what this is about?"

"I'm wondering who this is, actually," Alexis corrected, gesturing to the girl.

The girl stepped forward and dipped her head in a low, very respectful bow. "I sincerely apologize for the unannounced intrusion, Mrs. Diggory, and hope that you can find it in your most gracious heart to forgive me for this grievous offense."

Alexis stared at her blankly.

Amos laughed weakly and nudged the girl with his elbow. "Too much," he muttered.

The girl glanced up at him, frowned, and turned back to Alexis. "I work with your husband at the Ministry. I do not have a proper name, but I was affectionately dubbed 'Cuddles' by my first master. I suspect you will not wish to address me as such."

Alexis was fairly alarmed now. "I suggest that one of you becomes extremely forthcoming in the next few seconds, before I start hexing."

Amos sighed. "First, I didn't name her that. Second, Cuddles is a sphinx."

Alexis blinked. "No, she's a girl."

"She was born a sphinx, but she's currently a girl, obviously. You're familiar with an Animagus? This is the opposite: a magical creature who learned to assume a human form. I knew you wouldn't be crazy about an obvious sphinx walking through the front door."

After a long pause, Alexis shook her head. "Well, let's see it, then. If I'm to believe any of this-" Before she could finish the sentence, the girl had vanished, and suddenly there was indeed a sphinx in the room. She was slightly smaller than normal for her race, but still very much lion-sized and lion-shaped. It was plain that she was not a fully grown sphinx: her face still gave every indication of youth, and seemed almost unchanged from her human form. Her body was clearly that of a young lioness, which she demonstrated by flicking her tail and stretching out comfortably on the floor. Alexis was amused to see that she did so in the classical sphinx pose: with her front paws neatly aligned in front of her, staring straight ahead.

"I assume she's not just here for a social visit," Alexis murmured.

"Right," Amos answered. "Cuddles is basically a tamed sphinx. She can look after herself if provoked or threatened, but she's perfectly friendly. I've even taken her to St. Mungo's a few times to visit sick kids."

"And you want her to meet Edward," Alexis said, suddenly realizing where this was going.

"Now, don't get the wrong idea, Lexi," Amos warned. "That isn't the only reason why I want them to meet. They share a common history. Shortly after she was born, Cuddles was in an accident. She hit her head, and fell into a coma for almost a week. When she recovered, she had lost any inclination to tell riddles, and so was no longer welcome among other sphinxes. They would have torn her apart if she hadn't been brought here. She's been a great help at the office, it's never been safer. There aren't too many wizards willing to tangle with a sphinx."

"So you want her protect Edward? Is that it?"

"That's part of it. The other part is that Cuddles needs a home. She's been sleeping at the office, but that's no way for her to live. If she were to come and stay with us, Edward would have protection around the clock. She has ways of deterring people even in her human form. It's perfect!"

Alexis stared at him in disbelief. "You're proposing that we treat her as her daughter, and send her to school with the boys? And she's completely comfortable with that?"

"I can no longer recall what it was like to have a true family," Cuddles stated. "But from the way Mr. Diggory describes his, it sounds very nice. I would be honored to become part of his family. Human magic fascinates me, and I have not truly thought of myself as a sphinx for some time."

"But why would you want to protect Edward?" Alexis insisted. "You don't even know him."

"I still have a sphinx's instinct to protect, Mrs. Diggory. I was entrusted to your husband by my former caretakers, and I have found him to be a kind and honorable wizard. I am more than happy to offer my protection to his son."

Alexis frowned. "But, well... you're a sphinx. Suppose you wake up one day, rediscover your true nature, and decide to tear us all apart?"

Cuddles shook her head patiently. "That would only happen if I felt you were threatening something I was protecting, or if you could not answer a riddle I presented. In the latter case, you would have an opportunity to merely walk away, and in the former case, you would merely have to identify what I was guarding, and simply cease trying to obtain it. A sphinx is not unreasonable, only a terrible enemy to make."

"But Edward would be what you were guarding," Alexis insisted. "Which means you would try to keep him from us."

"Unlikely," Cuddles replied. "You are his family. Short of threatening him with physical, mental, or emotional harm, I do not foresee any situation where that would occur. And in any case, I would of course consider his opinion on the matter. So long as he needs and wishes to be among you, I see no reason to intervene. Also, I am undertaking this task at Mr. Diggory's request. For the moment, I recognize only him as my master."

"And how, exactly, did that come to be?" Alexis demanded, glaring at her husband.

"Calm down, Lexi," Amos laughed. "Almost every sphinx recognizes a master. They don't just randomly decide to protect something, they have to be ordered to do it. Cuddles was in the care of the Scamander family until they sent her to me, and in doing so, I became her master. Bit of a shock for me, really. But it's not as bad as it sounds."

"It sounds like you own her," Alexis pointed out uncomfortably. "Like she's a house-elf or something. You know how I feel about their... situation."

"It's nowhere near that bad," Amos disagreed. "For one thing, it's up to the sphinx to determine whether someone is worthy of being their master. They don't obey if they don't think a person is worth the effort. If Cuddles ever reached the point where she was unhappy, she would tell me, then seek out a new master. That's a lot more freedom than any house-elf I know has. If this doesn't work out, she can always go back to the Ministry until we find something that's a better fit. But I honestly think this is what's best for her and Edward both."

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try," Alexis finally murmured with a sigh. "Cedric can be a bit of a hothead when it comes to protecting Edward, so perhaps a second opinion would be best. And if it takes some of the pressure off of Cedric, even better. He'd never say so, but I know he stretches himself thin at times."

"Then shall I introduce her to the boys?" Amos asked.

"In this form?" Alexis asked skeptically. "Assuming they aren't terrified, do you really want them thinking of her as a pet?"

"It's important that they learn right away that her human form is secondary. She can spend a great deal of time in it, so it would be all too easy to mistake her for a girl with a sphinx transformation. And as she's already told you, her nature is that of a sphinx, not a girl. That means she takes her steaks pretty rare, and doesn't mind if they're still mooing. But I'd rather she not have to hunt while she's staying with us. I don't want her covered in blood unless it comes from a wizard that was trying to harm our family."

Alexis frowned as she stared into the sphinx's faintly glowing eyes. In that moment, she realized two important things. First, that she herself would do anything to protect her children. Second, that Cuddles, for all the good she would do them, would one day tear their family apart, in one form or another, if not both.

But Edward would no doubt be safe with her, until that happened.

"Boys!" Alexis shouted. "Come downstairs!"

Cedric and Edward came running at once. They both came to abrupt stop just beside their mother, not because they wanted to be near her, but because that was where they both caught sight of Cuddles and immediately tried to stop in their shock. Cedric managed it best, but Edward, having been right behind him, bumped into his brother and nearly sent them both sprawling.

Cuddles watched them calmly and did not move, but amusement danced in her eyes.

"Boys, meet Cuddles," Amos announced, gesturing to the sphinx. "She's my sphinx bodyguard at the office, and she might be staying with us to offer some extra protection. Don't worry, she won't bite you, and she loves to be petted."

After exchanging nervous glances, Cedric and Edward slowly moved forward and began to pet Cuddles, who stretched out even further along the floor to accommodate them and released a loud, rumbling purring sound that seemed to fill the room.

Edward smiled hesitantly. "I like her. She's pretty."

Cuddles turned to him and frowned, wrinkling her nose. "Master, this boy does not share your scent. He is not-"

"Cuddles, Edward is my adopted son," Amos reminded her firmly, "and a member of my family. I expect you to treat him that way."

"I understand, Master." Cuddles looked at Edward and bowed. "Please forgive my offense, young Master Edward."

Edward, who had never been bowed to, was so startled by the sign of respect that he forgot any harm her comment might have done. "Sure, okay." He put his arms around her neck and carefully hugged her, which surprised Cuddles in turn.

"You are... very kind, young Master," Cuddles noted softly, leaning into his embrace.

"It's kind of hard not to be. You're a girl," Edward pointed out.

Cuddles was not sure how to respond to that, so she did not.

Amos smiled approvingly, but Alexis frowned. She could already see a pronounced difference in the way each of her sons reacted to Cuddles. Cedric was petting mostly the sphinx's neck and back, but Edward stayed firmly at her head, and continued to talk to her, which was entirely unusual for him. He had always been reluctant to approach strangers, or even adults his parents were familiar with, and he had shown only fearful respect for the magical creatures Amos occasionally showed him. Neither seemed to apply to how Edward was responding to Cuddles now. He was not treating her like a stranger or an animal.

He was treating her like a girl. And Alexis knew that would only mean trouble.

* * *

 _Dec 1990_

It was Christmas morning, but Edward did not feel much like celebrating. The usual joy he reserved for the holiday was overshadowed by two very much unwelcome visitors: Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe. When Cedric had invited "two friends from school" to stay with the Diggorys, he had failed to mention that they were both girls, at least to Edward. That was bad enough, but their reactions to Edward had been worse. Marietta had stared, repeatedly and at length, at Edward's white hair. Cho had taken it upon herself to be the perfect houseguest, and kept trying to spend time with him. Edward was shy enough around some of Cedric's male friends, and other than Cuddles, female friends were firmly beyond his realm of experience.

He had tried complaining to his parents. His father had only laughed, and his mother had been infuriatingly reasonable. "I don't see what the problem is," she kept telling him. "They're lovely girls, and you'd be lucky to have either or both of them want to spend time with you." But she kept saying it with a tiny, knowing smile on her face, so Edward gave her up as a bad job, too.

Cuddles was understanding, if not helpful. She merely told him, "You have nothing to fear from them. Your brother would never expose you to danger, and even if he did, I will protect you." Edward felt less than confident, though, seeing how Cuddles had every morning of the shared holiday eating bits of sausage out of Cho's hand while having her golden fur carefully brushed.

Edward finally convinced himself that Cho and Marietta were not going anywhere, at least until the holiday was over. And even then, he'd see them at Hogwarts when he started there the following year. While Cho was annoyingly sweet, at least she wasn't petty or cruel the way others had been, and Marietta was moody but arguably civil most of the time. After all that Cedric had done for him, Edward figured he could force himself to accept his brother's friends, no matter how odd they were. Cho was certainly doing her best to accept Edward, after all.

So Edward forced himself to go downstairs, where everyone else was already well into unwrapping gifts and passing along their gratitude. He hesitated, then walked over to Cho and thrust a tiny, hastily wrapped box at her. "Happy Christmas," he murmured, avoiding her eyes.

"Oh! Thank you, Eddie," Cho replied, clearly pleasantly shocked.

Edward grimaced but kept quiet. He allowed no one but his mother to call him that, having viewed it as a private pet name (Cedric was always Ceddy to her, at least when he wasn't in trouble), and Edward inwardly felt he was being gracious enough just giving Cho a gift. She wasn't allowed two, especially since he hadn't given her permission. On the other hand, he'd been too busy avoiding Cho to find the time to correct this oversight, so she had continued to call him "Eddie" throughout the holiday, and wasn't likely to give it up even if asked.

Cho carefully unwrapped the gift and opened the box, only to gasp as she lifted out a pair of silver, star-shaped cufflinks, monogrammed with his brother's initials, CCD (Cedric's middle name was Callin).

"They're magical," Edward said at once. "They'll always spell out the owner's initials." This, of course, was a lie: the cufflinks were charmed only to retain their shine and repel dust. Edward had taken them from Cedric's dresser only minutes earlier. In his mind, it was merely borrowing: it wasn't like Cedric wouldn't be seeing them again. If anything, judging by the supposedly secret glances that Cedric and Cho kept trading, he'd be more likely to see them every day for the rest of his life.

"Is that true?" Cho asked softly, staring at him.

Edward glared at her mulishly. "'Course it is. Would I lie about something like this? And if I did, would you really mind?"

Cho blushed, which greatly intensified how pretty she was, much to Edward's discomfort.

"Anyway," Edward grumbled. "Welcome to the family, sis." Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Cedric had gone pale and was staring at their parents, who hadn't moved or said a word since Cho had opened the box. Marietta seemed to be doing her best not to laugh.

Cho completely shocked everyone when she launched herself at Edward, hugged him firmly, and gave him a big, loud kiss on the cheek. This seemed to undo the spell of silence over everyone else, and the gift opening continued in earnest. But Cedric constantly shot Edward "you're-so-dead" glares that lacked any real heat. While Cho while did not put on the cufflinks that day, Edward saw her slip them in and out of her pocket several times in order to stare at them, blushing briefly with pleasure each time she did so.

* * *

It was the same dream again.

Edward was staring up at a woman as she screamed and writhed in obvious agony. He had no idea who she was or what was hurting her. All he knew for sure was that there was some undeniable connection between them.

He had never told anyone about the specifics of the dream. Certainly, his parents and Cedric knew about it, as it had woken them all up frequently and loudly enough through the years, but Edward had refused to tell even them of its contents. Part of this was due to fear.

He did not fear the woman. He feared, instead, that he was somehow the cause of her pain. The very idea that he could be capable of something that required such power and malice shook Edward to his core. On this particular night, it also left him coated in sweat and shaking uncontrollably. Edward was only glad that he managed to jerk awake with a loud gasp, as opposed to a bloodcurdling scream.

Seconds later, Edward felt his bed dip, and he looked up to see Cedric at his side. Neither had to say a word. Cedric draped his arm around Edward's neck, and suddenly all of the fear came rushing back. Edward collapsed against his brother's chest with a muffled sob, and only began to calm down when he felt Cedric's arms wrapped around him.

At some point, however, Edward became aware of a third hand, which was gently stroking his hair. Based on prior experience, he assumed it was his mother, and was therefore greatly surprised when he lifted his head and saw that it was Cho instead. Edward was equal parts comforted and embarrassed by this, and immediately began to feign sleep, sagging in Cedric's arms.

"Can I do anything else?" he heard Cho asked softly.

"There's a sleeping bag in the closet big enough for two," Cedric told her. "W-Will your parents be okay with that?" Cho stammered. Edward could practically hear the blush in her voice.

"It's not for you," Cedric explained, admirably suppressing a chuckle. "After a nightmare, Ed sleeps better on the floor next to Cuddles, and I sleep better next to him." He paused, then added uncertainly, "But if you and Mari want to take our beds, you can."

To Edward's surprise, Cho responded, "I'll go get her." After she had dragged out the sleeping bag and unrolled it, Cho left the room at once.

"You can quit faking," Cedric muttered, giving Edward a sharp poke in the ribs.

"Why do your friends have to be girls?" Edward complained as he sat up straight.

"You'd rather have had a nightmare in front of two guys?" Cedric countered.

"No, but... why does she have to be so nice?"

Cedric shook his head with a smirk. "I know this takes some getting used to, Ed. But you're going to Hogwarts soon. There are going to be loads of girls, all over the place. Two sleeping in our house is nothing compared to that. Anyway, Cho's great. She's going to be your sister-in-law one day, and we both know it."

"The cufflinks were a joke," Edward insisted. "It was supposed to be funny."

Cedric grinned. "Sure. Notice how nobody but Mari laughed? If you'd tried that with the wrong girl, Mum would have killed you. Actually, if you'd tried it with Mari, she'd have killed you before Mum could."

Before Edward could comment, Cuddles silently padded into the room. She stared at the two boys for an instant, and promptly asked, "Another nightmare, young masters?"

Edward frowned at her. "Cuddles, I've told you a million times: we're your family, not your masters."

Cuddles looked as if she wanted to disagree, but instead sighed. "As you wish, Edward. Shall I inform your parents?"

"No, we can manage now that you're here," Cedric assured her. "Oh, and the girls are going to sleep in our beds." He tried to add the last part casually, but Cuddles was not fooled.

"I strongly suspect that your parents would be uncomfortable with that arrangement, Cedric."

"C'mon, Cuddles!" Cedric pleaded. "Think of it as a Christmas present from you to us!"

"I didn't ask for this!" Edward immediately protested, glaring at his brother.

"Maybe not, but it's for your own good!" Cedric replied.

"What is?" Cho asked as she returned. Marietta was right behind her, looking justifiably grumpy that she'd been woken up in the middle of the night and forced to leave her bed. Cho seemed rather pleased and went over to pet Cuddles, who of course basked in the attention.

"Edward is sensitive to unfamiliar magic," Cedric explained. "Sometimes when he's exposed to too many new magical people, or just a single powerful person, he gets overwhelmed."

"Then it's our fault you had a nightmare?" Cho asked in horror, staring at Edward.

"No, that was actually normal," Edward replied uncomfortably. "I have them about twice a month. If you two had been the problem, then I would have passed out within minutes of meeting you. That didn't happen."

"But it's also a good sign," Cedric added. "That he didn't react badly to you right away means that you're no longer considered unfamiliar, so the likelihood of either of you triggering one of Edward's episodes is pretty much zero now. But there are always going to be new people around, so Edward needs to get used to being around them as much as he can. That's why sharing a room with you two is a good idea for him."

"But you boys are going to be on the floor, right?" Marietta demanded. She was suddenly wide awake, and seemed to be in an increasingly bad mood.

"Uh, right," Cedric agreed, subtly shifting away from her.

"That's all I needed to hear." Marietta immediately climbed into Cedric's bed, punched the pillow hard, and then pulled the sheets over her head.

Cho seemed greatly disappointed, but clearly had no desire to risk her best friend's wrath. "Well... g'night, Cuddles. Sweet dreams, boys," she murmured. She gave Cedric a longing look, but made sure to offer Edward a big smile before she climbed into his bed.

Edward suddenly realized that he was not comfortable with Cho sleeping in his bed, which he feared had to be soaked in his terror sweat from the latest nightmare. But Cho gave no further sign that she was unsatisfied with the arrangement, and Edward certainly wasn't going to mention it first if she failed to. With no further excuses for avoiding going to bed, they climbed into the sleeping bag. Cuddles stretched out beside them, and Edward immediately fell asleep with his hand on her paw.

The only person with any further bad dreams was Marietta, who claimed the next morning to have had a horrible nightmare where crazy people kept dragging her out of bed and forcing her to switch rooms.

* * *

Harry had hoped he would get along well with the person sent to take him shopping for school, and Hagrid had not let him down at all. For one thing, he'd arrived on Privet Drive in broad daylight, making a scene and causing the neighbors to whisper, two things which Aunt Petuna simply couldn't stand. For those reasons alone, Harry had liked Hagrid even before he'd opened his mouth.

Hagrid restored himself slightly in Aunt Petunia's eyes when he explained that he had come to take Harry shopping for his school things. The Dursleys and Harry were always glad to be rid of each other for any length of time, and they were not fond of spending money on him, either. Uncle Vernon made a point of mentioning that they had no room for a bunch of junk (wholly unfair, considering Harry's current bedroom had once been set aside specifically to house Dudley's junk), and Harry rather felt that only Uncle Vernon and Dudley would consider learning tools to be junk. Having suspected that Harry would want to bring Al along, Hagrid had even provided a ridiculously large picnic basket for Al to ride in. Somehow it seemed rather tiny in Hagrid's enormous hands, and smaller still once Hagrid had strapped it to one large shoulder so that Harry wouldn't be burdened.

On the way to London, it was immediately clear that Hagrid had not been told about the pre-Sorting: he went on for several minutes about how well Harry's parents had done in Gryffindor, and how most dark wizards came from Slytherin. Harry chose to remain silent on that point, which Hagrid mistook for the anxiety nearly all first years displayed until they grew accustomed to the magical world.

Upon arriving in Diagon Alley, Harry suddenly came down with a mild headache. He tried to pass it off as nothing, but Hagrid was very concerned and insisted that walking around would do him no good. Instead, he dropped Harry and Al off at an ice cream shop, and gave Harry enough money for three cones, while he went to take care of the shopping. Although Hagrid offered to get Harry a post owl, Harry thought this would be a supremely bad idea: currently Al only ate small birds, but he still tended to associate nearly all birds with food.

The ice cream shop was crowded enough where most people didn't even glance at Harry, which was fine with him. After the reaction he'd drawn in the Leaky Cauldron, the last thing he wanted was so many more strangers knowing he'd visited Diagon Alley. Harry ordered two scoops of strawberry with sprinkles, and looked around for an empty seat. It was then that a dark-haired girl accidentally brushed against his arm as she was heading for her own table. She turned to say something to him, froze, and then gaped. Harry realized too late that at such a close distance, she was clearly able to see his scar.

"Y-You're Har-!" she began excitedly, but Harry quickly clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Please don't tell anyone!" Harry whispered desperately. "I just want to eat some ice cream without everyone staring at me!" The girl blinked and slowly nodded, so Harry removed his hand, blushing as he realized it was first time he could ever recall touching a girl, especially one that he hadn't even met properly.

"Sorry," the girl murmured, blushing slightly herself. "Well, I'm Pansy Parkinson. Do you want to sit with me? And my friend? He won't say anything about who you are, I promise!" It was impossible to miss how eager she sounded.

Harry hesitated. Now that he'd gotten a good look, he saw that Pansy was really not the sort of girl he would normally look at twice. She was not especially cute or pretty. In fact, the close proximity made it very clear that she had something of a hard face, and her nose in particular had an almost squashed look about it. But her looks aside, Harry was entirely unused to girls, and certainly unaccustomed to them begging. If nothing else, he felt that he owed Pansy for being rude, and he did need a seat. So he agreed to her request, and was immediately dragged over to a table where a blond boy with a pale, pointed face had been watching them.

"Draco, look who I met!" Pansy gushed, unable to help herself.

Draco did not seem as pleased as Pansy, and looked rather annoyed, until she pointed out Harry's scar. And while Draco still did not look happy, he no longer looked as if Harry were a huge bother, either. Oddly enough, Harry found that he preferred this reaction, as it was halfway between the two extremes, and drew no extra attention to him.

"I'm here shopping for my school things," Harry said, hoping to change the subject. "Well, someone's doing it for me, anyway."

"Smart," Draco said approvingly. "My parents are doing the same with us. Going to see you at Hogwarts, then?"

Harry nodded, relaxing further. Hagrid was great, but the idea that Harry might have some friends his own age before arriving at school was a huge comfort to him.

"So what house are you hoping for?" Pansy asked. "We'll be Slytherins, of course."

Harry noticed that when Pansy talked, she leaned rather closer to him than he thought was really necessary, even if she was trying to talk softly to avoid being overheard for his sake. But he somehow felt drawing attention to this, or asking her not to do it, would be very rude, when she had so far been fairly accommodating to him. In any case, the very thought of a girl even wanting to be that close to him gave him an odd, fuzzy feeling that he was not at all expecting. Harry wasn't sure if he liked it or not, but suspected he'd get plenty of chances to determine that, if he kept hanging out with Pansy.

"I'd say Slytherin is a safe bet for me, too," Harry managed to tell them with a straight face.

They both approved, naturally, and proceeded to tell Harry all about themselves. Although he noticed that Draco talked more about the Malfoy family and its connections rather than himself, while Pansy seemed to want Harry to know everything about her, presumably in the hopes that he would find her interesting. And Harry did, but for reasons separate from the ones she bragged about. He knew very little about girls in general, and was hoping that having one for a friend would change that.

They were still talking long after everyone's ice cream had been eaten, and Harry occasionally glanced at the door for any sign of Hagrid. The person who finally interrupted them was not Hagrid, but an attractive blonde woman who could only be Draco's mother.

"Draco, Pansy, come along," the woman said, but she paused when she saw Harry. "But who is this?"

Not surprisingly, Pansy immediately jumped up and whispered to the woman. Harry saw her eyes widen and her flawless skin become even paler. Instead of excitement, Harry saw in her face what he was quite sure was either fear or concern.

"I see," the woman murmured, staring at Harry. "It is... very interesting to meet you, young man. I am Narcissa Malfoy."

"It is interesting to meet you, too, Mrs. Malfoy," Harry responded hesitantly, figuring it best to at least return the greeting, however odd it sounded to him.

"Yes, well... we must have you stay over at the manor sometime. Draco so rarely has friends drop by. Be sure to ask your guardians about that, when you have the chance."

After the three had gone, Harry thought it over and realized Mrs. Malfoy had purposely avoided saying "parents", and he was grateful. He wondered how sincere the invitation had been, because he was sure the Dursleys would be happy to dump him on someone else for a while. Harry wondered if life with his relatives would have been improved or worsened by their being rich, and decided it wouldn't matter. Although they had always complained about how much raising him cost them, the truth was that Harry was given the least amount of food in the house, and had never gotten any new clothes. Meanwhile the amount Dudley ate, and the number and cost of the presents he demanded when the mood struck him, were more than any three children combined had ever needed. So if there were money problems, Harry certainly wasn't the one that had caused them.

* * *

 **Next Chapter: All Aboard**

Harry meets Edward. Hermione has a scare on the train. Harry learns that his new friends are not prepared for some of his secrets.


	4. Chapter 4

**Harry Potter and the Diggory Deception**  
 **A Harry Potter Messfic by**  
 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 4: All Aboard**

* * *

The Dursleys were all too happy to be rid of both Harry and Al for any amount of time, and Uncle Vernon was practically humming under his breath when he drove away from King's Cross Station.

Harry had no trouble finding platform nine and three-quarters, or at least Al didn't, even while tucked away in Hagrid's basket again. Apparently, he could easily distinguish between normal and magical walls, especially if there happened to be live birds on the other side of them. Harry was glad that he had fed Al two days previous, just so the snake would not be tempted to snack on other animals. Unfortunately, none of that told Harry how to actually get through the dividing barrier between platforms, and even Al was stumped there. Harry reminded himself that he wouldn't be the only student going to Hogwarts by train. Surely he would spot someone else searching for the elusive platform.

Only minutes later, Harry spotted a boy of similar height pushing his own cart into the same area. However, what had drawn Harry's attention was not the boy's height or cart, but the fact that he had extremely pale skin, a head full of messy white hair, and was even thinner than Harry was, which was no easy feat.

The white-haired boy slowed down as he reached platform nine, and stopped entirely when he saw platform ten. He observed the area for a moment, and noticed Harry just after his gaze had lingered on the unassuming barrier between the platforms for a few seconds. Trying to seem extra casual, he wandered over to Harry. "Nine and three-quarters?" the boy murmured softly as he leaned in close.

Harry nodded.

The boy looked just as relieved as Harry felt. "My older brother's just behind me. Bet me two Galleons that I couldn't find it and get through on my own. Well, shall we give it a go?"

The boy looked rather confident now and didn't seem to be joking, so Harry decided that he was being perfectly serious. Taking a deep breath, Harry pointed his cart at the barrier and rushed forward just as his new friend did. Instead of crashing as Harry had feared, they ran right through the barrier, and emerged on a loading platform beside a steam engine that could only be the Hogwarts Express.

The white-haired boy turned to Harry and grinned. "Looks like I owe you a Galleon, friend. Never would have had the guts to try that on my own." He stuck out his hand to shake. "Name's Edward Diggory."

Harry shook the hand and started to introduce himself, then remembered the reaction he'd gotten in Diagon Alley, and decided he wanted very much to avoid calling so much attention to himself.

Oddly enough, Edward did not seem to mind his silence. "Know who you are, of course," he added, nodding at Harry's forehead. "Don't know how you stand the gawking. Personally, I always carry a couple of hats with me." He reached into a bag tied onto his trunk and pulled out two black, fairly worn knit caps. As Edward pulled one on, Harry saw it expand to cover all but the very tips of his white hair, which immediately darkened to brown. "Dye Hats," he explained at Harry's surprised stare, offering the remaining hat. "Instant and temporary. This one's set to black, so it should just make your hair nice and shiny."

"Wouldn't all that just draw more attention to my head?" Harry asked.

Edward stuffed the extra hat back into his bag. "Fair point," he admitted reluctantly, and the two of them approached the train. It then occurred to Harry that Edward might want to share a compartment with him, which would probably not go over well with Draco and Pansy, who Harry had planned to sit with once he found them. But as it turned out, Edward had a plan of his own.

"Promised my brother I'd save seats for him and his girlfriend," Edward said, rolling his eyes to show what he thought of that duty. "You don't want to be bothered with that. If you can't find anyone to sit with, just try the Weasley twins, they're funny. Oh, and come find me at school when you want your Galleon. No doubt I'll be in Hufflepuff."

"How do know that?" Harry asked, genuinely curious.

"Not much choice. Dad and Ced are Hufflepuffs. Mum's a Ravenclaw, but none of us have got her brains. And history repeats itself, since Ced's girlfriend is a Ravenclaw, too."

Harry did find that interesting, especially since it hadn't worked out that way at all for him, and returned Edward's wave as they parted.

Draco and Pansy were ridiculously easy to find: Pansy had apparently been staring out of the window of the third compartment from the front of the train, all in hopes of finding Harry. The moment she spotted him, she beamed and waved furiously at him, then turned to speak to two very large boys sharing her compartment. By the time Harry had pushed his cart over, the two boys met him at the door and carried his trunk on board without a word. Slightly embarrassed but grateful all the same, Harry followed them with Al's basket in hand, and very nearly dropped it as Pansy eagerly gave him a huge hug the moment he stepped into the compartment.

"Harry, you made it!" Pansy squealed in delight. "We saved you a seat!" she added unnecessarily, dragging him to a seat between her and Draco, who had taken her former seat by the window.

"No trouble finding the platform, then?" Draco drawled.

Harry decided to be honest. "Yes and no. Knew where it was, but not how to get through. Had some help, though."

"Yeah? From who?" Draco suddenly seemed especially interested now.

"Think he said his name was Diggory," Harry murmured, watching Draco carefully. He recalled Edward's name perfectly, but wasn't sure what Draco might make of him.

Draco blinked and made a noncommittal noise. Apparently, he was no big fan of the Diggorys, but didn't disapprove of them so much as he did certain others.

Harry took advantage of the silence to turn and thank the two large boys for helping him. They blinked slowly at him, clearly not expecting this, and Harry quickly asked for their names.

"They're Crabbe and Goyle," Pansy informed him, although she gave no indication which was which, and neither boy did anything to suggest that they minded this. Harry got the impression they were just glad to be associated with Draco and Pansy, and either expected or were used to this sort of treatment.

"What's in the basket, Harry?" Pansy asked.

Harry hesitated, not sure how she would react, despite Snape's claim. "I got permission to bring an animal with me, as it wasn't on the approved list."

Pansy's eyes widened with obvious interest. "Really? What is it?"

"Snake," Harry replied evenly.

Pansy tensed slightly. "That's a pretty big basket, though."

"He's a pretty big snake," Harry admitted. "Don't worry, he's perfectly friendly."

Pansy wrung her hands a bit. "C-Could I see him?" she asked nervously.

"You don't have to if you really don't want to," Harry assured her.

"N-No, I want to," Pansy insisted. It was pretty clear that she was doing her best to win his approval, though, and Harry appreciated it.

Harry opened the basket, and Al slowly emerged a few feet. Harry stroked him to show it was safe, and Pansy eventually worked up the nerve to touch Al as well. It did not escape Harry's notice that the other boys made no attempt to do the same. Draco had gone very still, and both Crabbe and Goyle were staring very hard at the window. When Harry decided they'd had enough, he coaxed Al back into the basket. Before he closed the lid, Al hissed at him, "I like her. Make sure you keep her around."

Harry laughed and promised that he would, but did so in Parseltongue, which he tended to switch to automatically when speaking with Al. He was only reminded of this when he looked up into four very startled faces. "What? What's wrong?"

"You're a Parselmouth, Potter," Draco finally said in a trembling voice.

"Yeah. Did I forget to mention that?"

"Pretty sure you did. Especially since we didn't even know you had a snake five minutes ago!" Draco snapped. "And neither is the type of thing you just... spring on people like this!"

Harry shrugged. "Sorry, but I'm Muggle-raised. I don't know what's a big deal and what isn't around here unless you guys tell me."

Draco glared at him. "Well, for future reference, having a dirty great snake and being able to talk to it are both very big deals!"

"There's nothing... wrong with it," Pansy attempted to explain. "But you still don't want to advertise it. People might make the wrong assumptions."

"What, that I'm the next Dark Lord?" Harry asked. "And I assume that I can trust you guys, at least."

"Of course you can!" Pansy agreed at once, seizing his hands. "You just need to be careful, Harry."

"Fine. But it wasn't like I'd be able to hide Al for very long. Pretty sure I'm required to tell you about him, in case you have any animals he might eat."

Draco sighed and shook his head. "Just don't bring him to meals, or take him to the owlery. You'd be expelled in a heartbeat."

* * *

It was not hard for Edward to save an entire compartment. All he had to do was remove his hat. Few people wanted to sit with a kid with a head full of white hair. He had learned that lesson years ago, although he knew it was not why Cedric had asked him to save the seats. Cedric was exactly the kind of older brother that Edward had needed: supportive without being coddling, but unafraid to treat Edward like a normal kid. And somehow, he was the only one who had ever gotten it right. He was the only one who didn't, on some level, constantly remind Edward of the painful fact that he hadn't been born a Diggory.

When Cedric finally arrived, he was of course not alone. Cedric remained a leader no matter where he went. In this case, he was followed by Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe.

Cho was not officially Cedric's girlfriend yet, though only because their parents considered them too young to date still. Edward had caught them kissing a handful of times already, and so insisted on referring to her as Cedric's girlfriend in conversation. It was both a means of good-natured teasing, as well as his personal brotherly seal of approval. Cho, at least, appreciated the gesture for what it was.

Marietta was their third wheel and Cho's best friend. Edward did not, strictly speaking, care for her. He and Cedric, and indeed most people, seemed to tolerate Marietta solely for Cho's sake, and Marietta admittedly did make Cho seem twice as nice by comparison. Edward could not deny that he enjoyed teasing Marietta, and he was one of the few people ever allowed to get away with it. Cho was very good at reading Marietta's moods, and always stopped him before Marietta could reach her boiling point.

"Pay up," Edward ordered gleefully the moment Cedric dragged his trunk into the compartment.

Shaking his head, Cedric wordlessly handed over two Galleons, then helped the girls stow their trunks. Cedric then took the seat opposite his brother.

"Thanks for saving our seats, Eddie," Cho said, beaming and reaching over to give his hand a quick squeeze before she practically perched herself in Cedric's lap.

Marietta grunted what might have been thanks and sat down next to Edward, but pointedly ignored him as she usually did, much to his amusement. Much as she claimed not to like him, she was clearly used to his company already.

"No trouble finding everything, Ed?" Cedric asked.

Edward shook his head. "None. Even found Harry Potter."

Cedric's eyes widened in shock. "You didn't!"

"Did," Edward confirmed smugly. "Nice fellow. Almost as skinny as me. Needs some proper feeding, I think."

"Who would underfeed Harry Potter?" Cho asked in alarm.

"Probably the same lot who want him dead, but I don't think they'd feed him at all, in that case," Marietta pointed out grimly.

"Well, he won't stay underfed at Hogwarts," Cedric said confidently. "I'll even ask the house-elves to keep an eye on him. They love stuffing us with food. Any idea what house he'll be in, Ed?"

Edward thought for a moment. "Maybe Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Didn't strike me as the Hufflepuff type."

Marietta snorted. "You haven't even been sorted yourself. How would you know the Hufflepuff type?"

"I know my family," Edward replied simply. "Harry is surely a friend, but not family. He'd be here with me now if he was."

"I don't know, Eddie," Cho disagreed with a smile. "Your mother was in Ravenclaw, and you sure seem like one to me."

"Thanks, but I don't think our poor, dear Mari could stand it if I were in the same house as her," Edward chuckled.

Marietta glared at him while everyone else laughed.

* * *

Hermione Granger had been lucky enough to end up sharing a compartment with a group of other first year girls. Unlike her, they were all quite nervous, and spent most of the train ride in a silly competition over who was going to flunk out first. Only one of the girls, a twin named Padma Patil, had bothered to thoroughly read any of the schoolbooks, and even she had not read them all cover-to-cover and memorized the important sections as Hermione had. This made Hermione feel much better about her own chances of success, although she wisely decided not to mention that. Lavendar Brown had been shocked enough that Hermione preferred studying to gossiping, and Hermione hadn't wanted to risk alienating them any further.

Lavendar had heard that Harry Potter was in their year. Normally, Hermione would have viewed anything that an obvious gossip magnet like Lavendar had merely heard with skepticism. However, Hermione had also done the research: Harry was within their age group, and his parents had also gone to Hogwarts, so there was a very real possibility that he would be their classmate at some point.

Things had been more or less peaceful until a girl in the next compartment screamed.

Hermione was the first of her group to race out in the corridor, but probably the third person to rush over to the second year girl who had screamed, and was now just outside her own compartment, clutching the edge of the doorway and looking as if she might faint. Looking past her, Hermione could see that a white-haired boy, a first year by the size of him, had collapsed onto the floor. Fortunately, his other compartment companions seemed a bit more capable, and had bent over him in a clear attempt to revive him, although they didn't appear to be using any method that Hermione recognized as being effective. Without a moment's hesitation, she pushed her way into the compartment and cried, "Excuse me, I know CPR!"

This did not get the reaction she had been hoping for: the older boy who had been leaning over the first year instantly jumped to his feet and spun around to face Hermione, his face contorted in both fury and concern. "What do you want?" he demanded.

Hermione gaped at him, thoroughly confused. "I-I know CPR," she repeated hesitantly. "I could help-"

"He doesn't need whatever that is," the older boy snapped, growing more irritated by the second. He suddenly became aware of the crowd at the door, which only seemed to feed his anger. "Clear off, the lot of you!" he roared. "You'll have plenty of chances to gawk at him later!"

Hermione tried to protest, but he took a threatening step toward her, and she became very aware of how much taller and more solidly built he was. "Please," she whispered urgently, tears in her eyes. "I only want to help him!"

The older boy faltered, becoming uneasy at the sight of her tears. "You can't," he muttered. "Anyway, Cho can handle this." He gestured to the girl that was still bent over the fallen boy. Cho appeared to be massaging the boy's temples, much to Hermione's surprise. Just as Hermione was about to explain the merits of CPR, the fallen boy suddenly groaned and opened his eyes.

"Eddie?" Cho asked desperately, grabbing his shoulders. "Can you hear me?"

Eddie stared at her, looking fairly dazed, and murmured something that Hermione couldn't quite make out.

This only seemed to agitate Cho. "Eddie, what's my name?" she demanded, giving him a shake. "My name!"

Eddie's eyes seem to be a little less glazed as he answered, "Cho?"

"And your name?"

"Edward," he said, sounding more certain now.

And so it went on, with Cho demanding that Eddie identify everyone in the compartment (the older boy was his brother Cedric, and Cho had gone pink when she realized after the fact that no one there knew Hermione's name), the date, their location, and what he had last been doing (sleeping, apparently). Once Cho was convinced that Eddie was fine, she hugged him fiercely and covered his face with kisses, much to his embarrassment. He then had to endure the same treatment from Cedric, who had limited himself to a single but still very touching kiss on Edward's forehead.

"What is CPR?" Cedric finally asked.

Hermione launched into what she felt was a short summary on CPR and how it was used, but by the time she finished, Cedric and Eddie both seemed to have a glazed look in their eyes. Cho appeared to have followed the explanation well enough, though.

"Oh. So it's a Muggle way to revive people," Cedric murmured, sounding both confused and apologetic. "Sorry I snapped at you, I didn't realize that's what you were trying to do."

"Well, I'm not so sure it would have worked now," Hermione admitted. "If he was already sleeping, I don't think he fainted, which was my first guess."

A noticeable look passed between Cedric, Cho, and Eddie.

"We know what it was," Cedric explained, "but we'd really rather not discuss it with anyone outside of the family." He paused, then amended quickly, "Cho's practically family, anyway. We just met you, though."

Far from being offended, Hermione simply nodded. "I understand completely. I'm just glad he's okay. Sorry to have bothered you." Hermione started to leave, but Cho stopped her.

"Why don't you stay?" Cho suggested. "Eddie doesn't know many people in his year, and I imagine you don't, either. Cedric can probably answer any questions you might have, too. I need to go find Marietta, she was pretty freaked out."

Hermione realized Cho was referring to the girl who had screamed, and who had vanished with the rest of the crowd.

As it turned out, Cedric could only answer about half of Hermione's questions, which were admittedly numerous and probing, but Cho was able to answer most of the rest upon her return. Hermione took an immediate liking to her, less because she was nice and more because she was clearly highly intelligent. Cho seemed to recognize this, and had soon convinced Hermione that Ravenclaw was the proper house for her.

Hermione walked away with the distinct impression that this was nothing new for any of them: apparently this was a recurring health issue for Edward, and she made a mental note to keep an eye out for him at school.

* * *

Harry had been hoping to see the other students sorted into their houses, but Snape had come to fetch him and Al the moment they entered the castle. Briefly, Harry had feared that Snape intended to punish him for having shown off Al on the train. Instead, Snape took them deep into the castle, to a plain-looking stone wall that turned out to be the entrance to the Slytherin common room. Once Snape had told Harry the current password (ancient blood), the wall slid away to reveal a spacious underground room, with a fireplace and several high-backed armchairs.

"Your snake will only be allowed in two areas of the castle this school year: here in the common room, and in your dorm room," Snape explained. "The Headmaster has conjured a special containment barrier specifically for... Al. He must stay within it at all times. Only you and those you give permission to can temporarily breach the barrier, to either handle the snake or feed him." Snape flicked his wand, and what looked like a giant blue bubble floated up from behind an armchair and slowly moved toward them.

"What about when he needs sunlight?" Harry asked.

"The barrier will simulate any condition that Al requires. When he sheds, you may collect his skin and submit it to me for extra points towards your latest Potions assignment. Unless you have inherited your mother's brilliance in the subject, I have no doubt that you will need those points."

"And this barrier will keep other animals out?"

"Not at all," Snape replied. "The Headmaster will announce that all animal companions must be registered with Mr. Filch, our caretaker. The barrier is designed so that no registered occupant of the castle can breach it without your permission. This will prevent Al from attacking anyone that is supposed to be here. He is welcome to any unregistered animals that may cross his path, and of course, if an intruder should enter the castle, he would be free to attack them, as they would be unregistered as well."

"Are we expecting intruders?"

Snape paused and stared at Harry. "There is very little evidence that suggests the Dark Lord was defeated permanently, and not all of his followers were known. I know that you are young and unprepared, but I cannot pretend that you are perfectly safe even here. I advise you to be very careful, Potter. Not all magic is good, not all men are decent. If you are truly lucky, you will survive the next attempt on your life."

"Wouldn't I be luckier if there were no attempt on my life at all?"

"I prefer not to waste time thinking on things that are extremely unlikely," Snape said simply. "As soon as you have placed Al within the barrier, I will take you to the Great Hall. If we hurry, we may arrive before the feast begins."

Harry knew what a feast was, but he had never seen or been to one. Even calling what he'd gotten from the Dursleys 'meals' was being generous. Much as he loved Al, Harry was not about to miss out on that much food, ever. In any case, Al understood: he did not need to eat as much or as frequently as Harry, and Harry had only been able to demand more food from the Dursleys with the lie that he needed it for Al. They had given in without much fuss, being unaware of how rarely Al needed to eat, and preferring that Harry's giant snake not be hungry around them.

Harry was slightly comforted by the fact that Al seemed to like his new cage: he began to float around the common room contentedly in lazy circles. Once assured that the snake was fine, Harry announced that he was ready to leave.

Snape paused at the door, then turned to face Harry with an unreadable expression. "Welcome to Hogwarts," he murmured, thrusting a small, square package into Harry's hands. Harry nearly dropped it in his surprise, and when he looked up, Snape was in the hallway and striding rapidly away, so Harry stuffed the package into his pocket and hurried after him.

Harry would not discover until after the feast that the package contained a stack of old magical photos, all of his mother, though only before she actually had been his mother. To no great surprise, Harry's father was not in any of them, although a young man that was obviously Snape appeared more than a few times, and young Lily Evans did not seem to mind his company one bit. Harry would go to bed later that night conflicted, torn between loyalty to James, the man who had been his father, and growing interest in Snape, the man who might have been his father if given the chance.

* * *

Harry and Snape slipped into the Great Hall just after the Sorting had begun. Snape made his way to staff table, and Harry took his place at the Slytherin table beside the newly sorted but rather imposing Millicent Bulstrode. The large girl gave him a brief glance, but either did not notice his scar or thought nothing of it, and quickly lost interest.

Harry was particularly interested in the Sorting, mostly because Edward Diggory was proven right immediately: he became the first new Hufflepuff that Harry witnessed, at any rate. A girl named Hermione Granger became the first new Ravenclaw, and Harry thought she looked quite happy about it. Not for the first time, he wondered if the other students had been able to make a more informed decision about the houses they went to, because Hermione was not the only one who seemed to know where she wanted to end up.

All Harry really cared about was that Draco and then Pansy were indeed both placed in Slytherin, and made a point of taking seats near him. Harry would have thought that Millicent might prevent this, but she was accommodating enough. Soon Pansy had struck up a conversation with her, though of course Pansy did nearly all of the talking, but Millicent did appear to be listening attentively. Draco was more interested in where Harry had disappeared to, so Harry told him about the unexpected trip to the Slytherin common room. By the time Harry finished, everyone around him was listening in, most likely due to the mention of his owning a boa constrictor. By then, the Sorting appeared to be over and done with.

McGonagall had just rolled up the parchment she'd read the names from when it suddenly became obvious that she had missed one. There was a girl standing where the other first years had been lined up, although Harry could not recall her having been there previously. The girl made no effort to draw attention to herself, and she did not need to: a great deal of curious murmuring began at once, and McGonagall soon realized the error. She beckoned the girl close and they quickly exchanged a few hushed whispers. Then the older witch turned back to the students and said loudly, "We have one last student to be sorted: Scamander, Selma."

This caused even more curious muttering. Pansy explained to Harry that the Scamanders were famous magizoologists. However, she strongly suspected that Selma had been adopted: every Scamander she'd seen a picture of was of European descent. Selma, on the other hand, had copper brown skin, almond shaped green eyes, and unmistakable poise that immediately put Harry in mind of an Egyptian queen in miniature.

The oddities did not stop there, either. The Sorting Hat sat upon Selma's head for almost five minutes before it finally screeched, "HUFFLEPUFF!" And then, before she could remove it from her head, "AND RAVENCLAW!"

Selma did not seem at all bothered as she removed the hat and handed it to McGonagall, who was gaping at her. In fact, she dipped her head in a polite bow to the teacher, and then calmly made her way over to the Hufflepuffs, who immediately began to clap and cheer, although with many confused glances among them. A few Ravenclaws joined in the applause, but most were uncertain if they had actually benefited from gaining only half of a student.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and addressed the hall. "Welcome to all of our brand new students, and welcome back to those that are a bit more worn-in but no less cherished! Now, I would normally save all announcements until after our feast, but I feel these two are of the greatest importance.

"First, as some of you may have seen or guessed, Harry Potter is indeed starting at Hogwarts this year. I assume that the majority of you, however, are unaware that he was sorted well before he arrived at the castle, due to circumstances of great necessity. So I am pleased to announce that Harry was the first student this year to be placed in Slytherin.

"Also, as you have just witnessed, Selma Scamander is the first student in quite some time to be placed in two houses. In the interest of fairness, she will divide her time equally among both, and her robes will be enchanted to clearly display which house she is currently representing. This will ensure that neither house will be mistakenly rewarded or punished by any points she might earn or lose for the other."

* * *

The sorting had gone much as Edward had suspected. He was placed in Hufflepuff, the newest Weasley brother in Gryffindor, and the Malfoy boy in Slytherin. Hermione Granger, the girl with bushy hair that he'd met on the train went to Ravenclaw, something that Cedric seemed fairly relieved about. They had been warned that the Sorting Hat might have a tough time with Selma, though they hadn't expected her to be shared with two houses.

Harry's name was curiously omitted from the list, yet Edward had been surprised to spot him at the Slytherin table. Edward thought Harry had looked pretty comfortable among the other Slytherin first years. It was good that Harry seemed to have made other friends already, though Edward wished he'd managed to end up in any other house.

Edward was only half-listening as the announcements were given. He noticed that Hermione was sitting next to Cho, and the two appeared to be deep in conversation about something. There was little doubt about what, as Hermione glanced at him several times, while Cho distinctly avoided doing so. Edward only remained as calm as he did because he knew Cho would quickly squash any misconceptions that Hermione might have about him. It would hopefully save him the trouble of having to deal with them later.

Once the feast ended and the students rose to depart for their dormitories, Edward hurried over and caught up with Cho just as she reached the door. With her staring at him expectantly and several pairs of eyes on them, all he could come up with was a hastily murmured, "Um, thanks for earlier."

Whatever he had expected, it wasn't for Cho to lean forward and gently kiss his forehead. "You be careful, Eddie," she whispered, squeezing his shoulders briefly before joining her housemates, some of whom were giggling softly. Edward stared after her until Cedric thumped him on the back, then draped an arm around his shoulders and dragged him along.

"She does that sometimes, get used to it," Cedric assured him with a grin.

* * *

Cho had always had a gift for making friends quickly and easily. This was in part due to how attractive most people found her, but also because of a lesson that her parents had instilled in her at an early age. They had stressed that many things could change, violently and without warning, and that it was best to make the most of life while one was free to. Cho had embraced this wholeheartedly, partially because it meant her parents were much more open-minded than some others she knew. It also meant they had been only slightly uncomfortable with Cho's obvious crush on Cedric Diggory.

It was, of course, no reflection on Cedric himself or his family. Cedric was an honest, intelligent boy with a perfectly respectable background, and the Changs had every intention of welcoming him into their home as a potential and even favored suitor for Cho, though only after they were both a bit older. As her father had said several times, Cho had done very well in selecting a good match for herself. They just hadn't expected her to find him in her very first year of school. In all other respects, her parents approved of the relationship, though they insisted on calling it a friendship for the time being. Cho and Cedric accepted this, though with the private understanding that they would begin dating as soon as they both felt ready to.

Cho and Marietta had spent the last Christmas holiday with the Diggorys, who had been delighted to have them. That had been Cho's first real chance to spend any time with Edward. Her first impression had been that he was an adorable, sweet, but slightly troubled little boy. It had taken some effort on her part to get him talking, although once she had, Edward had proven very interested in Cho's experience as a Ravenclaw. Even now, she wore his gift of silver monogrammed cufflinks every day. Cho was almost sure that Edward's claim had been a lie, though an amusing one: the cufflinks had spelled out "CCD" from the moment she had opened the box. So either they were perfectly ordinary and had actually belonged to Cedric, or some adult had paid handsomely to help play a little joke on her. Or, less likely, Edward had been entirely truthful, and the cufflinks far too perceptive. But from then on, the "CCD"s that Cho sometimes doodled within her notes did not always refer to Cedric.

Cedric had warned her about Edward's episodes long before the holiday. He referred to them as seizures, and Cho could tell that while Cedric accepted Edward fully, those incidents terrified him, because there was no real way to prevent them, only to see Edward through them. Nor did anyone seem to know what caused them. Cedric believed that the seizures, as well as Edward's white hair, had something to do with what had happened to him before he had come to live with the Diggorys. But all Cedric remembered about that was his mother telling him one night that he would finally have a little brother like he'd wanted, and that Edward needed them because he no longer had a family. Cho had worried that Edward had been abused, but Cedric had doubted that, if only because his own parents did not seem angry when Edward's parents were mentioned, only sad and pitying. Cedric suspected they were dead, and that it had not been a peaceful death.

If Cho had needed any proof how serious Cedric was about her, she now had it. Cedric had instructed all of his friends how to respond to Edward's seizures. Actually, he had demanded that they know, and Cho had been no exception. Cedric had patiently taught her to channel her magic into her fingers, but it was much harder than doing so with a wand, which was made specifically for that purpose. Cho had at least managed it to Cedric's satisfaction, but she had always assumed that Cedric would be the one to help Edward if he had an episode.

Instead, on the train Cedric had asked her to be the one, while he kept everyone back. He had placed his trust entirely in her, and that had nearly given Cho a panic attack herself. But she'd kept herself together somehow and revived Edward, but with that had come a startling realization: if she had failed, if anything bad had happened to Edward, it would have destroyed her, and if Cedric had not ended their relationship over it, then she would have. Edward was that important to them both, and Cho already thought of him more as her little brother than her boyfriend's.

* * *

 **Next Chapter: The Chivalrous Slytherin**

Shared frustration in Potions manages to bring Harry and Hermione together.


	5. Chapter 5

**Harry Potter and the Diggory Deception**  
 **A Harry Potter Messfic by**  
 **Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)**

 **Chapter 5: The Chivalrous Slytherin**

* * *

 _September_

It happened after a particularly grueling Potions class.

Hermione Granger had once again earned the highest marks (though her official grade implied otherwise), and only because she had been wise enough to listen the Sorting Hat's first choice.

Hermione's parents had always believed that it was better to be clever than brave, and she wholeheartedly agreed with them, especially now.

Professor Severus Snape had a special place in his heart for Gryffindors, which was another way of saying he'd have poisoned all of them while they slept, assuming anyone else was teaching Potions and would therefore take the blame. With Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, he was more or less indifferent, and so while he rarely picked on Hermione in particular, she was used to her work not being praised by him. Snape only ever seemed to praise Slytherins that never actually deserved it, and Hermione had come to find that she simply didn't care. Every other professor (except for Trelawney) had praised her no less than three times within her first month at Hogwarts, so she'd given Snape up as a lost cause, and was far happier for it.

Still, Hermione was not as naturally gifted at Potions as she was in other subjects, and she worked hard for the decent marks she got in it. That meant hours of studying every day, with no guarantee of a good grade even if she was the best in the class. But the end result was that every other student in the class knew who the actual best was, despite what Snape said.

So it was a bit of a shock the day that Harry Potter first spoke to her.

He was not the best in the class, nor did Snape praise him as such. Ever. And that was rather odd, especially for a Slytherin, because Harry was well above average, to the point where even if his potions did blow up, he could actually mask the explosion and pass it off as a rather loud cough. He was one of the few Slytherins that didn't seem to resent Hermione's intelligence, possibly because he also knew that brains didn't mean mean a thing in Snape's class. Harry hadn't spoken to her at all before then, which was a small relief, because he generally hung around Draco Malfoy, so anything Harry might have said to her probably wouldn't have been complimentary. But Harry was unlike Malfoy's usual thugs in that he obviously had a brain, was not needlessly cruel, and seemed to be Malfoy's companion more out of convenience than actual desire.

There had been almost no contact between Hermione and Harry before then. Hermione knew that Harry had been present the first time that Malfoy called her a Mudblood. Goyle, Crabbe, and Pansy Parkinson had all laughed. Harry had not. In fact, he had distanced himself from them for the rest of the day, looking intensely thoughtful about something. He was back with the group the very next day, but Hermione noticed from then on that Malfoy only ever used the term if Harry wasn't around. It would have been too much to assume that Harry had done it for her sake, so Hermione hadn't.

And then, without warning, she was researching a tricky potion in the library one day, when Harry came up to her table as if he did so all the time.

"Hey, Granger," he greeted almost casually as he sat down across from her and began pulling books out of his schoolbag. "Am I nuts is or is Snape getting worse? I think he almost lost his patience with Goyle today."

That was no surprise: Goyle routinely melted his cauldrons, though Snape generally either ignored this or somehow blamed a Gryffindor on the opposite side of the dungeon. Hermione was amazed that a Slytherin was actually commenting on it, though.

"Well, we weren't making anything that should have been able to melt a cauldron," Hermione said hesitantly, "so maybe that's why. I can't figure out how Goyle managed it myself."

Harry paused in unloading his books, fixing her with a penetrating stare. "Relax, Granger. I'm not going to hex you. Just making conversation."

Hermione did relax, if only slightly. "Can you blame me?" she countered.

"Guess not," he sighed, which was as close as they both knew he'd get to an apology. "Anyway, I felt like talking to someone that had a brain and didn't enjoy using it to come up with a new way to torture Gryffindors, so naturally I had to find someone in another house."

"Why are you even in Slytherin?" Hermione blurted out. That was something she'd never been able to figure out. She didn't think Harry would be offended by that, and sure enough, he wasn't.

"The Sorting Hat gave you another option, too?" Harry asked softly, in case they were overheard.

She nodded. "On three?" she murmured out of the side of her mouth.

Harry nodded as well. "One, two, three."

"Gryffindor," they both muttered as one.

"Well, that's just... odd," Hermione said at last.

"So you wanted Ravenclaw?" he asked.

She shrugged. "It was the only house I hadn't heard anything negative about the first night, and the Sorting Hat suggested it to me first. So why did you...?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "Picture this, if you can. You walk into a room where everybody knows you, but you don't know any of them. The first person you meet, you have no idea how to handle. But she's nice to you and seems to mean well. And her friend is a bit of a stuck-up git, but he's obviously got wealth and connections that you might need one day, and doesn't seem directly opposed to your own existence. Do you hang out with him, or the decent people nowhere near as well off?"

Hermione blinked. "I guess that's where we're different."

"Yeah, well, call me when some dark wizard murders your parents and we'll see if you've changed your mind."

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth. "Harry, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

Harry was gaping at her. "You called me 'Harry', didn't you?" he murmured in surprise.

She blinked, wondering if he shouldn't be focused more on the murders. "Well, yes. That is your name."

"Yeah, but almost no one else calls me that. Just Pansy, but she's tried to stick her hand down my-"

"Is this really a story you want to share with me?" Hermione interrupted sharply with a rather severe expression on her face.

Harry blinked. "It doesn't bother me, but-"

"Let me rephrase that: don't EVER share that story with me."

He grinned, unable to stop himself. "Let me guess. You can't stand her?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Can anyone?"

"I think I'm the only one. Well, Draco can, in small doses. But it helps if she's not wearing anything. Or talking."

"More than I ever wanted to know about those two, thanks."

Harry laughed. "You're alright, Granger."

"Did I ever do anything to make you think I wasn't?" she countered.

He considered that for a few seconds. "Huh. No, you didn't. Funny how that works."

"Not really. It's just more of the usual house nonsense getting in the way of otherwise enriching relationships."

"So you stopping me from telling stories about Pansy is somehow enriching?"

"As opposed to you actually telling the stories? Definitely." Hermione glanced at her watch, frowned, and closed the book in front of her. "I have to go. I'm going to be late for Charms if I stay here any longer."

Harry opened his mouth, as if he wanted to stop her, but he said nothing, merely watching her pack up her things. It was only when Hermione stood up that he finally halted her with, "I could walk you."

Hermione stared at him, thoroughly surprised. "Why would you do that?"

"Why wouldn't I?" he demanded, feeling both offended and a bit silly.

"Don't you have some sort of image that would be damaged by that?"

He snorted, sweeping his books haphazardly into his bag. "I could do a lot worse than to be seen with the smartest witch in my year."

She blushed at the compliment, even if it was probably a fact. "I'm just saying you might not want to make a habit out of it."

"Yeah? And what would you do if I did?" he challenged.

"I suppose I'd make you carry my books, so long as you're going to be there, anyway."

Smirking, Harry took her bag from her, wincing as he realized too late that it was far heavier than his own. "Shall we go?" he asked, allowing very little strain to slip into his voice.

Hermione smiled brightly at him. "I'm glad I was wrong about you, Harry."

"Well, so long as you're open to new ideas, would it be more or less chivalrous of me if I used a Hover Charm on your bag?"

"More, but only if you got it right on the first try. Otherwise, I'd probably just feel sad for you and do it myself, which would defeat the original purpose, wouldn't it?"

He scowled at her. "I take it back. You're not alright, Granger, and I think I could grow to enjoy hating you."

She laughed, though not unkindly, and patted his arm. "How very Slytherin of you. I could almost believe you, if you hadn't just agreed to walk me to class and carry my books for me."

* * *

"You're late, Potter," Draco drawled as Harry walked into the common room that evening.

Harry was not at all surprised to see Draco and Pansy sharing the same high-backed armchair, something they did rather often. "Didn't know you'd memorized my schedule, Draco. Sorry. Won't happen again, your lordship." Harry made a rather ridiculous bow with a flourish, drawing a breathy giggle from Pansy and a frown from Draco.

Draco sneered, as if he'd tasted something foul. "I heard you were walking around with Granger today."

Pansy's giggle cut off abruptly. "Really, Harry," she sighed, pouting at him. "Even if you're just planning to use her and toss her away, you've simply got to have standards about these things." She paused, then added softly, "And if it's about that, my numerous offers still stand, you know."

Harry turned red despite himself. He had, rather innocently, accepted such an offer from Pansy only once. As it was, he considered himself lucky that she'd only claimed his first kiss and little else. He was also rather certain that while Pansy did not sleep around with just anyone, she had, on more than one occasion, gotten rather far with Draco, and was still clearly involved with him. Neither one seemed to mind her attraction to Harry, even though Harry definitely did, if only for Draco's sake.

"I'm flattered as always, Pansy, but maybe some other time," Harry murmured as he collapsed in a nearby armchair, removed his glasses, and rubbed the bridge of his nose..

Draco's frown deepened. He had never really cared for the way Harry preferred using their given names, though Pansy secretly thought it was adorable. It implied a certain closeness that simply didn't belong among first year Slytherins. Draco had known Pansy before Hogwarts, and they'd gotten much closer recently, so that was different. Harry, however, had even tried it with Crabbe and Goyle, if only twice. They had not discouraged him from it in any way, but had become far too used to their surnames and completely forgot to answer to anything else.

In an effort to help Harry fit in, Draco had asked Pansy to make sure that Harry was comfortable, and even left the details of how up to her, but Harry had only relaxed around them so much. He was friendly, to be sure, and sometimes discussed his lousy excuse for a family, and how he had terrorized them all into living in his cousin's upstairs bedroom by bringing home a boa constrictor from the zoo. It was a mere stroke of luck that Draco was able to trick Harry into racing brooms past the staffroom that Snape preferred, with the end result that they both got special permission to join the Slytherin Quidditch team: Draco as Seeker, and Harry as his reserve. Draco knew Harry to be the better flyer, but Snape habitually ignored him, so Draco had every intention of faking an injury halfway through the season so that Harry could gain fame as a house hero.

At Draco's urging, Pansy slipped out of their chair and sashayed over to Harry, offering to massage his shoulders (and anything else he might like). She gave him such a glowing look that Harry simply didn't have the heart to refuse her.

It was weaknesses like that in Harry which truly bothered Draco. Certainly, Pansy could be attractive when she wanted, and Draco was seriously considering marrying her in the future, if they both lived long enough. But it wasn't Pansy's looks that Harry fell victim to: it was the affection. Draco knew very well that Harry had gotten none from the Muggles he lived with, but he still seemed to fiercely crave it. Perhaps Draco didn't understand because his own mother had spoiled him from an early age, but now was simply not a good time for that need to be so obvious. It was fortunate that Harry had attached himself to Draco early on, because otherwise someone might have mistaken him for being weak.

On top of everything, Harry had mixed feelings about the Dark Lord. He was very much aware that Voldemort had killed his parents, and had not even once entertained the notion of becoming a Death Eater. At the same time, he did not appear interested in opposing the Dark Lord, either. Draco had brought it up several times, and Harry was clearly starting to lose patience with him over the matter. Draco was not about to give up on something so important, however. He intended to invite Harry (and Pansy, if necessary) to come home with him over the holidays. Maybe once Harry saw what could be obtained and enjoyed by being on the right side, he'd stop resisting so much. But if he kept hanging around with trash like Granger, he was really going to give the wrong impression.

All too soon, Harry said he was turning in early, and after politely refusing Pansy's offer of a nightcap, headed to the boys' dorm.

Draco stood up to follow, but Pansy caught his arm.

"You have to convince him, Draco," she said quietly. "I know it's a bother, but..."

He expected her to say something along the lines of how great a loss it would be, if the Dark Lord decided to get rid of Harry Potter, instead of allowing him to join the Death Eaters. Instead, Pansy said the last thing he'd been expecting her to.

"I don't want him to die. I don't think you do, either."

Draco's shock must have been plain on his face, because Pansy blushed and quickly excused herself, not even bothering to kiss him goodnight. But as he climbed into bed that night, Draco knew that Pansy was right. When they weren't butting heads, Harry was the closest thing that Draco had to a best mate. The closest he'd ever had, in fact. And Draco was not just trying to befriend Harry because his parents had strongly encouraged him to. Now he was doing it entirely to save Harry's life. Because in the Dark Lord's view, there were only three types of people: those that stood with him, those that he used and then threw away, and those who were dead. Draco already knew his place, and hoped he could help Harry into it before it was too late.

* * *

"Hermione," Padma Patil said crisply, "are you going to spill, or are you going to make us drag the details out of you?"

For her part, Hermione was more than a bit intimidated as she took in the combined stares of her dorm mates. The only reason that Padma, Mandy Brocklehurst, Morag MacDougal, and Su Li were ever of one mind was juicy gossip, and so far, they had never had any reason to gang up on Hermione.

"What on earth are you talking about, Padma?" Hermione finally asked. "What have you heard?"

"Only that you've been hanging out with the Slytherin Seeker."

Hermione's eyebrows rose. "I wouldn't touch Draco Malfoy with a ten foot-"

"Not him, Harry Potter!" Mandy interrupted, an eager gleam in her eyes. "What's he really like?"

"Oh, him." Hermione paused, and unable to resist teasing, murmured, "He's alright, I guess."

"You guess?!" Padma demanded in outrage. "Details, Hermione! Is he as much a prat as Malfoy? Well, he can't be, no one can. Was he decent to you, at least?"

"He was a gentleman. As much of one as a Slytherin could be, that is. And you all really seem to have the wrong idea. If you just walked up and talked to him, I'm sure you'd find that he's harmless."

The four girls seemed to release a collective deep breath, and Hermione was just starting to relax when Su literally pounced on her, giving her shoulders a little shake.

"So is it true what they say? Are his eyes really dreamy up close?"

Hermione stared at her in shock, not having expected the abrupt change in questioning. "What?"

"His eyes! What are they like?"

"I thought you lot hated him?"

"What? No, of course not," Morag said dismissively. "We're just wary of Slytherins in general. But now that we know he's okay, he's fair game!"

"For what?" Hermione asked sharply, fearing the worst.

The other girls exchanged looks of disbelief.

"Hermione, don't tell me that you're... um..." Padma trailed off uncertainly.

"It's totally okay if you are, though!" Mandy quickly chimed in, elbowing Padma in the ribs.

"Oh! Right, sure!" Padma quickly agreed, smiling nervously.

It didn't take long for Hermione to connect the dots. "What, just because I don't immediately want to date every cute boy I meet, you think that I must be-"

"You said he was cute," Padma noted with obvious relief. Then she grinned. "You like him!"

Hermione turned bright red. "I just meant that I didn't find him horrid, that's all!"

Su patted her arm sympathetically. "You're in denial, you know. Honestly, though, this is good. We were starting to think you'd never get your first crush."

"It's not a crush!" Hermione snapped. "I barely even know him!"

"That's why it IS a crush!" Padma insisted. "If you still like him once you know him, that's when it starts to get serious. We'll help you out when the time comes, of course."

"For the last time, I don't have a crush on him!"

"Yeah, okay," Morag relented, winking at the others. "Then when you need help with your not-crush, we'll be here for you, Hermione. And you will need help. The really important stuff about dating isn't something you can find in a book. Well, you can, but it's still better to hear it firsthand from someone that's been through it. If you'd rather talk to someone older, you could try Cho. Half the boys in the school have had a crush on her, so she knows all about it."

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but Su beat her to it.

"But you don't have a crush, so I'm sure this is all just pointless gossip." But once the other girls had started to back off, Su whispered to Hermione, "If you really don't like him, could you mention me to him?"

* * *

 _November_

The next time that Hermione had a chance to speak to Harry, their conversation was not quite as enjoyable.

This time Harry was in the library first, his nose buried in a large book with tiny writing on its pages. He didn't even notice Hermione until she tapped him on the shoulder.

"I think someone hexed this book so that you have to get this close to read it, even with glasses," Harry groaned, removing his glasses and rubbing his tired eyes with a fist.

Hermione leaned over his shoulder, and was still able to make out the page heading, as it was larger than the rest of the text. "Harry, why are you researching the Draught of Invincibility? Not only is it far too advanced for you to make-"

"You could make it, though, couldn't you?" he interrupted.

Frowning, Hermione leaned closer, checking all of the ingredients. "No," she answered after a moment.

"Really? You can't?" Harry asked, clearly shocked. "So even you don't understand this?"

"No, I understand it perfectly. But I also see that one of the ingredients is giant blood. From what I learned in History of Magic, giants aren't commonly friendly with anyone, and they certainly don't go around handing out their blood for potions."

"But if you had some giant blood, you could make it?" Harry insisted, looking eager.

"In theory," Hermione said slowly, "but I'd want to know why, Harry. Why do you think you need to be invincible?"

"I don't think, I know," Harry corrected. "Someone is trying to kill me."

Hermione blinked. "Harry, I know Gryffindors can be a little spirited in their dislike of Slytherins, but-"

"Forget about school for a minute! I'm talking about fully-grown dark wizards wanting me dead, Granger!"

"Did something happen? Is this about You-Know-Who again?"

"It's more about his followers trying to do me in, but yeah. Are you going to help me or not?"

"If you bring me the giant blood, I'll make the draught. But you need to be looking for more permanent solutions, Harry. This draught does wear off eventually."

"I know, and I am. But this is the best I have so far." He paused and looked up at her, giving her a genuine smile. "Thanks, Granger."

Hermione suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Why are you thanking me? It's not like I'm one of the people that wants you dead."

Harry stared at her. "Um... I know that. What's with you?"

"Nothing!" Hermione said far too quickly. "So, what happened that makes you think someone is after you?"

"Remember that scare we had at the Halloween Feast?"

"You mean the troll in the dungeons?"

"Do you ever remember hearing which dungeon?"

"No, I never did," Hermione admitted. "So?"

"Did you notice I wasn't at the feast that night?"

Hermione almost nodded, then realized how her noticing his absence could be taken the wrong way, and promptly shook her head.

"Well, I was making up an assignment for Snape."

"...in the dungeons?" Hermione asked weakly, suddenly feeling faint.

Harry nodded. "I think the troll was more interested in my failed potion than Snape was. Do you know he docked me ten points because I 'let' the troll wreck half of his classroom before I barely managed to stop it?"

"How did you survive?"

"Promise you won't laugh," Harry said sternly.

"How could I?!"

"I tried to hit him with his own club. I figured Wingardium Leviosa was a good place to start, but it somehow backfired, and I shot my wand up his nose instead. While the troll was busy flailing around, I started chucking cauldrons at his head. I think he must have finally felt the twelth one, because he suddenly fell over and landed right on top of Snape's desk. I swear the very moment he was done, Snape ran in and started yelling at me. It was like he was waiting right outside the door. Combined with the fact that he isn't crazy about me, and he expects me to be an expert troll wrangler, I think he somehow got that troll inside the castle and set it on me. He was the only one that knew I'd be in the classroom that night. If I wasn't lucky, I'd be dead."

"But you're in Snape's own house," Hermione protested. "Why would he want to kill you?"

"I don't think he cares about that. It must be something personal. But I never did anything to him, so it must be something to do with my parents. I think he could be around the age they would be, if they'd lived. There's a chance he went to school with them here. But that doesn't matter. What does matter is I'm not going to end up dead over something I had no control over."

Hermione bit her lip. "How soon can you get that giant blood?"

"Today, if I hurry."

"Then why aren't you hurrying?" she demanded.

Harry blinked and smiled. "Right." He shoved his books into his bag. "Thanks again, Granger."

"You could use my first name, you know."

"Yeah? Well, if your potion works, that's the least I'd do." He gave her a hasty pat on the back before running off.

* * *

Getting the giant blood (well, half-giant blood) was terribly easy. Hagrid, while still a bit upset that Harry was a Slytherin, also felt rather sorry for him (but then, a great deal of people did when his parents were mentioned), and only needed to be asked to contribute his blood a grand total of two times. Naturally, Harry didn't mention why he needed the potion, and Hagrid didn't ask, as he was too busy sobbing over Harry's misfortune.

If Hermione was surprised when he gave her the blood, she didn't show it. Harry made sure she knew that it was half-giant blood, just in case that mattered, but Hermione said it wasn't a problem. Whether that meant the draught wouldn't be negatively impacted, or if she just knew a way to work around it, Harry wasn't sure, but he trusted her judgment.

* * *

 **Endnotes:**

And that's all I got. There's no more, and never will be. At least not by me.

The original plan for this story (separate from the combined version) was for Harry to attempt to steal the Sorcerer's Stone, except he was discovered by Pansy and Draco, who insisted on going with him. Pansy rigged the harp against Fluffy, as she had a similar one at home and knew how they worked. Harry was going to use Lumos Maxima against the plants, but dropped his wand in the fall, so Draco used a spell that created a miniature sun instead. Between Draco and Harry, getting the flying key was no problem, but a skeleton key scratched and poisoned Pansy. Though they didn't want to leave her, Draco reasoned they might both be needed for the challenges ahead. So they left her temporarily, dealt with the chess board (Draco plays wizard chess, but in aggressive way that sacrifices all pieces except his and Harry's) and the troll (Harry distracts it long enough for Draco to use an overpowered Severing Charm to behead it).


End file.
